Who Dares Wins
by Charah
Summary: Sarah is accepted into the highly prestigious and elite 22nd SAS Regiment and becomes the first female in the Regiment after passing selection. She has been looked down upon her entire career because of her gender but she has always proved every single doubter wrong. Chuck had passed his own selection three years earlier. AU/Action/Romance story. Rated M FOR STRONG SEXUAL SCENES!
1. Chapter 1

**AN1 **Hey there. The inspirations that led me to write this fiction were my own story, Redemption, and also one of my favourite military T.V. series, _Ultimate Force_, and that's about all.

Disclaimers: Any missions described in this fiction are just fantasy formed inside of my mind, and if for some reason they detail something classified that has formerly occurred, then that wasn't my intention, and I had no idea! And I don't own Chuck!

Warning for military violence and frequent cussing in this fiction. With the cast being pictured as enlisted soldiers and the best of the best, I wanted/want to portray them in their raw, authentic fashion. So there will be colourful language aplenty in this fiction because that is the most authentic way to detail the real-life soldiers of this highly prestigious regiment.

With the rating now being changed to mature, there is also now a warning for strong sexual scenes, and also graphic scenes.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter One**

* * *

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

**2007**

It was just after zero eight hundred hours (8AM) when Corporal Chuck Bartowski clocked on duty at his highly classified and restricted special forces base, and the young-but-experienced Corporal was presently stood inside of a hallway just outside of his on-base accommodation that he had departed out from just a few moments ago.

Chuck was twenty-seven years of age, and he had been serving in the British Army since he was nineteen years old. Chuck had signed up to join the British Army the very same day he had received his college results, of which he received top marks in his A-Levels.

Charles Irving Bartowski came from a proud military family and so naturally, since the very first moment of his birth, he had, had his family's noble exploits in the military instilled into him by both his father and grandfather as they told him war story after war story and about what an honour it was to serve your country.

The ancestry of the Bartowski family in the British Army dated back hundreds of years because, for the past three hundred years, there had always been a Bartowski in the British Army. Chuck's ancestors had fought in battles ranging from the American Revolutionary War, to the Battle of Waterloo, to World War One, World War Two and finally, to the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Falklands War and the Gulf War in 1991 that his father had been a part of.

Chuck's dad was immensely proud of his child's achievements and the status that his son had achieved in the military in becoming the first special forces soldier in his family's history. When Chuck had received his highly coveted beige beret three years ago, it was the proudest moment for both father and son. And when Chuck had subsequently returned to his father after having passed selection to join the highly prestigious and elite 22nd Special Air Service Regiment, his father had told him that his achievement was no more than what he deserved, and that he was more proud than he could ever begin to tell him that Chuck had carried on in the footsteps and traditions of his grandfather, his great-grandfather his great-great-grandfather and so on and so forth.

His mother and sister had been a little—a lot—more hesitant and reserved about his decision to join the army, however. But life in the British Armed Forces was everything that Chuck had aspired to do since a young age, and so they had accepted his decision on the condition that he had at least completed college first, which he had. His mother and sister had subsequently attempted to persuade Chuck to move on to a university, but Chuck had reminded them of their promise and condition that he finish his college exams and _not_ university exams. Chuck's mother was an extremely bright investment banker, and she had met Stephen on a night out. Mary's friends had convinced her to let her hair down, and her group of friends spent the night in the company of Stephen and his army mates.

Chuck's sister, Ellie, however, was a doctor in the National Health Service. Eleanor Faye Bartowski lived with her fiance, Devon, who was also a doctor in the NHS. Chuck was proud of his family, and he loved each and every one of them dearly. Chuck had always tried to visit his family whenever he could. However, since joining _the_ Regiment, Chuck had been unable to see them much, because when he was deployed on counter-terror duties, he was restricted and confined to the area of Hereford on immediate standby for any potential action. In contrast, none of Chuck's family lived within close distance of his base, as they were all located throughout the U.K. Plus, if his squadron was deployed overseas on operations, then he obviously couldn't see them then either, nor if he was on training or exercises. The reality was that you didn't get much downtime when you were a part of arguably the most elite fighting force in the entire world.

Chuck was entitled to twenty-eight days of paid leave per year. When Chuck was just a regular squaddie, he got 38 days of leave per year, which was more than most civilian jobs. Chuck's combat deployments in _the_ Regiment so far had consisted of several months in length with training deployments being a similar duration. Those deployments he had undergone were less than the standard six-month tour of duties for the regular soldier, but because of the intense nature of a special forces soldiers job, not many deployments lasted longer than just a few months. His counter-terrorist missions, however, did last for six months—which was the current assignment of his squadron. When a squadron of the SAS was assigned the role of counter-terrorism, the squadron would split into four troops. Two of those troops were stood ready on immediate notice to move. The soldiers of those two troops must therefore also remain in the area of Hereford, which was a small city of just under sixty thousand, at all times.

"Corporal?"

Chuck was disturbed from his thoughts, and he diverted his glance away from the window that he was formerly looking out of, and instead, he began to gaze in the direction of his commanding officer, Captain Richard Wallace, who had just called out his rank to him. Chuck had built up a great rapport with his C.O. in the time that he had been in _the_ Regiment. His Captain was down to earth, and the whole squadron had tremendous respect for him, despite him being a Rupert (an officer). Chuck and every single teammate he served with would run through hell for their officer, and Captain Wallace had more than proved that he was prepared to do the same for them to keep them safe in the hellholes of Iraq and Afghanistan on previous deployments...

"Good morning, sir," Chuck replied to his C.O. accompanied with a nod of his head.

"Good morning. I'm sure you're aware of the two recruits joining the team after passing selection today?" Captain Wallace asked Chuck.

Chuck nodded. "I am, sir. I watched a little of their SERE (The Defence Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract Training Organization) and I thought they handled themselves quite well."

The Captain returned the facial gesture, and he continued his glance toward his seasoned and sharp-minded soldier. "It's why I've flagged you. The recruits will be arriving on base soon. Do you think you can be a good chap, and show them around and have them collect their gear and show them to their quarters on base before our formal introduction at eleven hundred hours?"

Chuck nodded once more. "Consider it done, sir."

"Goodman," Captain Wallace responded approvingly, and he moved to shake Chuck's hand before he began to turn away from Chuck and he departed away from the young Corporal to attend to his duties, leaving Chuck to be alone once more.

Once his commanding officer had disappeared from out of view, Chuck sighed aloud to himself for a short moment in frustration, as he had already made some morning plans with some of his teammates and friends on base this morning. However, Chuck quickly recalled back to being the new guy himself, and on his very first day in the Special Air Service, he was given an introduction around the military installation by one of his now best friends, Sergeant Cole Barker, so the least he could do was to return that same gesture extended to him himself several years ago.

Having now shaken off his brief moment of frustration, Chuck began to depart out of the barracks section of the base, and he began to stroll over to a red Range Rover, which was one of the vehicles of his troop. Having arrived at the vehicle, Chuck moved to enter inside the SUV, and on closing the door after him, he fired up the ignition, and he proceeded to drive toward the entrance of the base. Arriving at the gate soon after, he parked up in wait, and he spent the next few minutes awaiting the arrival of his two new teammates.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A few minutes later**

Chuck was still in wait, and the two newest members of G Squadron had now arrived outside of the base. Chuck continued waiting patiently, and he observed as his new teammates cleared themselves to enter onto the base by providing the military policemen with their new identity cards. On completion of the security checks, Chuck finally exited his vehicle from where it was parked, and he walked over to the gate to greet the two newest special forces recruits. Chuck's new teammates were wearing civilian attire as they still needed to receive their new equipment from the armoury. Chuck meanwhile, had his pager on hand, and he was dressed in his highly customised special forces combat uniform, as his troop was one of the two troops presently stood to on immediate notice to respond to any terrorist threat to the United Kingdom.

On arrival at the location of his new teammates, he sported his new comrades a warm smile, and he began to greet them both. "Hey. Chuck Bartowski," he said, and he extended out his arm to offer them a formal handshake.

"Bryce Larkin," the first recruit replied as he moved to shake Chuck's hand, while the new recruit also returned the smile to Chuck.

Chuck then adjusted his arm in the direction of the second recruit.

"Sarah Walker," the second recruit replied as she also shook Chuck's hand and she returned the warm facial gesture to him.

"Welcome to _the_ Regiment," Chuck declared with another warm smile.

"Thanks," Bryce replied as he returned Chuck's smile.

"Thank you," Sarah replied as she did the same.

Remaining idle close the exit of his base, Chuck asked, "You were both partnered during your SERE, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Sarah replied, and Chuck watched as Bryce nodded.

"You both did a great job in evading SFSG (Special Forces Support Group) the way you did by the way. I was watching the exercise with great interest," Chuck then declared.

"Thank you," Bryce replied.

"We managed to successfully evade them, and they didn't even get close, and yet we still got subjected to interrogation," Sarah complained, and Chuck laughed briefly as he too had managed to evade the capture force with his partner at the time several years ago, only to then be interrogated also.

"It's just the way it is here. _The_ Regiment needs to see if you have what it takes before they give you the beret," Chuck stated.

"Yeah, I get it," Bryce replied, and Sarah nodded in agreement.

"I was unable to see your interrogations due to other more pressing matters, so, how were the interrogations?" Chuck asked with a mischievous smile because he already knew the answer to that. They were hell! Because he went through the very same thirty-six hours of interrogation himself. During the interrogations, the interrogators would subject you to flashing lights, sleep-deprivation, they would scream at you at the top of their lungs, they would strip you naked, they would insult you and your family, and if you gave _anything_ more than your name, rank, serial number and date of birth, then your entire nine months of the most challenging training you could ever possibly undertake would have all been for nothing because you would be disqualified and returned to your unit. If you failed selection twice, you could not apply a third time either. You only got two chances at selection, and you must be under thirty-five, or they would not consider you for selection for this highly coveted unit.

"Horrible," Bryce replied laughingly, and he shook his head to emphasise his point, causing Chuck to begin to chuckle in approval.

"Awful. I thought I was about to crack. My interrogators really did get to me," Sarah admitted, which caused Chuck to laugh and nod his head in strong agreement and approval because his own interrogators had almost caused him to crack too.

"Yeah. I remember mine. I still have nightmares about it more than three years on," Chuck replied tongue in cheek, whilst sporting a humorous smirk.

Smiling at Chuck and holding her gaze onto him, Sarah said, "I can see why. I'm probably going to be the same way."

Chuck nodded, and he then shifted his gaze back onto Bryce.

"The female instructor didn't stop ridiculing my you know what," Bryce said, whilst glancing down at his pants with a smirk, causing Sarah to laugh.

Chuck began to frown, and his face started to fill up with confusion. "Only that?" He asked in amazement. "You got off lightly then. They spent god knows how long yelling all kinds of nastiness about my mum and my sister."

"Oh, they absolutely did that to me too," Bryce interjected.

"That sounds more like it," Chuck declared approvingly.

Chuck then changed his glance towards Sarah. "What about you? What happened in yours?" he asked.

Sarah laughed briefly, and with a headshake, she replied, "I got stripped naked, and a group of male interrogators spent many, many hours explaining to me in vivid detail why they thought I was a lesbian and why I wasn't into men, amongst lots of other nasty things!"

Chuck burst into laughter, and he shifted his glance away from Sarah to look at Bryce instead, who had also joined him in the laughter. It took a short moment for the laughter between the now comrades to quiet down, and when it did, Chuck spoke to his new teammates once more. "Ahhh, good show! You know what? I'd love to get my own back and get a crack at giving an interrogation to one of the group that did it to me and see how they like it."

Nodding his head sharply in agreement, Bryce said, "Too bloody right, mate!"

"Same here!" Sarah agreed as she began to sigh.

"So anyway, why I'm here boring you both to death is because your new C.O. has given me the unlucky task of welcoming you both and detailing your responsibilities today," he paused to sigh, and they smiled sympathetically at him. "Though I'm sure I'm not needed as you both seem to have your heads screwed on and I'm sure you could find your way around yourself. Plus, you've spent the past nine months learning everything about _the_ Regiment anyway. But if you'd like to follow me, I'll give you a tour of your new home?" Chuck asked with a warm, inviting smile.

His new teammates began to nod before the three new comrades proceeded to walk over to Chuck's Range Rover which they entered into together. With everybody inside, Chuck fired the ignition once more, and he proceeded to turn around the Range Rover before heading back in the direction he came from just earlier.

"I'll take you to the Regimental Quartermaster first and have you both collect your gear. We are stood to on counter-terror operations right now which you will have both been apprised of by the C.O. in recent days when he paid a visit to you both after you passed SERE, I'm sure," Chuck said while glancing at Bryce in the front seat and then at Sarah in the rear-view mirror, and they both nodded their heads affirmatively.

"I'm assuming you've both had operational tours before?" Chuck asked as he glanced at Sarah, and Bryce briefly before he concentrated his focus back out of the windscreen to continue driving the vehicle once more.

"Yep," Sarah replied.

"Yeah," Bryce agreed.

"Which regiments were you in?" Chuck asked.

"Fusiliers," Bryce stated.

"Sarah?" Chuck then asked, and he glanced at her in the mirror once more.

"Royal Green Jackets," she replied before adding a further comment, "What about you?"

Chuck glanced in the rear-view mirror at Sarah once more, and he smiled at her. "Grenadier Guards. So what role did you both serve in?"

"Infantry," Bryce replied.

"Medic," Sarah stated, and Chuck nodded and smiled warmly at them both.

Chuck continued driving the SUV for a few moments more before making further conversation. "Have either of you killed before?" he asked as he glanced at Bryce next to him and Sarah in the rear-view mirror.

Bryce nodded at Chuck before responding verbally, "Yeah."

"Sarah?" Chuck then asked, glancing at her again.

"I'm not sure if that's any of your business," she replied reservedly, but the veteran Corporal didn't even flinch at her reservations or her abruptness with him. He had heard _a lot_ worse than that during his eight years in the military!

"There is no room for feelings in _the_ Regiment, Sarah. You won't last long here, and you'll be returned to your unit faster than you can say _Jack Robinson_ if you can't come to terms with what the Regiment is now going to be paying you to do," he replied, glancing at her via the driving aid once more.

"Well then no, in answer to your question, I haven't!" she fired back with a lot of attitude attached to her tone, and he nodded before he continued driving for a short moment longer until he pulled the SUV to a stop outside of one of the numerous buildings on their base.

"Here we are. Let's get you your gear then," Chuck said as he took out the keys from the ignition and he departed the vehicle and Bryce, and Sarah quickly followed him inside the armoury...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Chuck, Sarah and Bryce were now inside the armoury, and the Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant dressed in No.13 barrack dress was now issuing out the equipment to_ the_ Regiment's newest recruits. Gear was standard for new recruits, but because Bryce and Sarah were now part of a highly specialised unit, they may acquire their own equipment at the expense of_ the_ Regiment if they so chose. Because G Squadron was the chosen squadron assigned counter-terrorism duties in the United Kingdom, Bryce and Sarah's new kit consisted of the necessary requirements for them to carry out those duties and as such, they were each supplied with an ac100 armoured helmet, an sf10 gas mask, standard army boots, body armour, flame retardant undergarments, a flame retardant assault suit, fireproof knee and elbow pads, stun and tear gas grenades, an abseiling harness, a radio harness and finally, a Sig Sauer P226 pistol and Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun.

The two weapons provided both fired off 9mm rounds which were ideal for CQB (Close Quarters Battle) situations as they didn't usually pass through a target or a wall which was _vital_ to minimise the risk of collateral damage in any kind of hostage situation that the elite team may face on their duties.

Remaining idle in the armoury, Chuck watched on with a vivid interest as his two newest team members paid particular attention to their firearms and he observed as they walked over to them for closer inspection. His two new teammates' actions were much similar to that of his own, as he did the same when he first joined_ the_ Regiment three years ago.

Chuck's first deployment with _the_ Regiment was on counter-insurgency operations in Iraq in 2004, so his initial equipment assigned to him was entirely different to what the quartermaster had just given out today. However, in the years that had followed since Chuck's first day in 22 Reg, Chuck had highly customised his equipment to his own personal taste.

"Gather your gear and place it in your rucksacks provided and then I'll take you to your quarters on base so you can stow away your gear and then I'll show you around..."

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck, Sarah and Bryce had just departed the barracks housing G Squadron that Chuck had taken his two new teammates to so that they could stow away their gear in their own personal accommodation while on base and they began to walk together as a small party along the corridor for a short moment before arriving at a door.

"Here is the best place on the base, the cafeteria," Chuck declared, and he glanced behind him with a grin, and his two teammates smiled at him.

Sarah, Bryce and Chuck then began to enter into the cafeteria, and on entering, Chuck glanced around the room to observe who was present inside the facility. There were around a dozen people gathered all around the large room. Chuck could see numerous members of his squadron and of his troop, and he also noted several administrative military figures. With his observations complete, Chuck walked deeper into the cafeteria with Sarah and Bryce following on behind when the new comrades were approached by three members of their team.

"Hello, Chuck," Sergeant Cole Barker, Chuck's best friend warmly greeted him.

Chuck grinned affectionately at his best friend. "Hi, Cole," he said softly.

"We were wondering where you were at, you bastard. But now we know," a Scottish SAS trooper said to his friend before glancing at Bryce and Sarah standing behind Chuck.

Chuck nodded and laughed briefly at the Scot. "Yeah. Wallace put me on babysitting duties. Heh," he finished with a laugh which caused his pals to join him in the action.

"Better you than me, fella," a towering English SAS trooper replied, and Chuck laughed once more, and he nodded affirmatively at one of his good friends.

Chuck then moved to the side so that his friends could properly introduce themselves to their new teammates.

"Cole Barker," Cole said with a warm smile, and he shook Sarah's hand.

"Sarah Walker," she replied, and Cole nodded as he then shook Bryce's hand.

"Bryce Larkin," Bryce replied, and Cole nodded at him.

"John Murray," the Scottish SAS trooper said as he shook Bryce's hand, followed by Sarah's and they all smiled at each other.

"Daniel Thomas," the English trooper said as he also shook Bryce and Sarah's hands.

"Otherwise known as Big Dan," Chuck stated jokingly.

"Yeah, 'cause of the size of the bastard," another English SAS trooper stated endearingly on arriving in the vicinity of the small group as he then introduced himself, "Jamie Hughes."

With the main introductions now at an end, Chuck began to introduce Bryce and Sarah to some of the other soldiers present inside of the cafeteria which also contained an R&R section with two pool tables and numerous other relaxing activities before they departed the cafeteria and they headed to Chuck's red Range Rover once more…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

After leaving the cafeteria, Chuck had proceeded to show Sarah and Bryce some of the numerous sophisticated training facilities present on the base. There was a Killing House which was where the SAS practised hostage rescue and close quarter battle training. The point of the facility was to train the SAS operatives to enter a room and to be able to assess the situation and rapidly shoot any threats. This particular building was extra useful to new recruits that hadn't killed before. It helped to prevent them from freezing from pulling the trigger for a split second too long that could have drastic consequences. The Killing House was a customisable two-storey building with four rooms on each level. It was designed just like a conventional building, with furniture, pictures, toilets, televisions, etc. The building also had special rubber-coated walls to absorb the live ammunition used inside the building, extractor fans to clear out fumes, and video cameras in all corners of the rooms to record the action so that it could be evaluated and studied. The Killing House was a top-rated facility, and over the years gone by, numerous dignitaries including Prince Charles, Diana, Princess of Wales and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had all visited the facility.

America's Delta Force was so impressed with how successful the Killing House was; they decided to adopt and incorporate it into their own training facilities. Delta Force, by no coincidence, first formed when a U.S. Green Beret served as an exchange officer with 22 Reg and exposed the U.S. Army's vulnerability in not having a similar SAS-type unit in their army.

After showing them the Killing House, Chuck had then proceeded to take Sarah and Bryce to the location of where part of a Boeing 747 aircraft was stored. Part of the Boeing 747 was used for the SAS to facilitate the practising of the storming of aircraft.

Chuck hadn't taken them through the locations, as that particular task would be done at another time probably some point within the next few days. They had just stopped in pause outside the sites as Chuck briefly explained the training facilities features to his newest teammates.

After finishing the introduction, Chuck dropped his new teammates outside of their accommodations on base, before he headed off to link up with his friends for some social activity before he was to be formally introduced to Sarah and Bryce along with the rest his troop at 11:00 hours.

**End of Chapter**

**AN2** Next Chapter: Sarah (with some of her background disclosed) and Bryce's formal introductions to Red Team, Mobility Troop, G Squadron along with their first day.

So then, is there anybody who may want to share this Charah military story with me? Please leave a review and let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN1** Before I start the chapter, which will begin with a segment covering Sarah's selection process, I would like to provide some factual information concerning women in the military. Before October 2018, women were unable to become members of the SAS. But now they _are_. I was contemplating beginning this story in 2019. But then when I looked at the conflicts available to me, with the Syrian Civil War coming to an end, I didn't see much overseas mission potential. So I decided instead to push the story back 12 years and have 2007 as the start date ( it is also the beginning of Chuck, so that's why 07 appealed also), but because this is fiction, I've decided to have the ban on women being lifted in 2006 instead. So I'm not making up fantasy. Women _can _now join the SAS. I've just allowed it to happen 12 years earlier.

**AN2** Mike, I'm sorry to hear about your health problems :( My first grandfather was a tank commander during WW2, my second was in the Royal Navy. My first grandfather lost four brothers in WW2. He was the last surviving :(

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Two**

* * *

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

**11:00 hours**

Trooper Sarah Walker had just arrived outside of the briefing room on her new base. The briefing room was about to be used to formally introduce herself and Trooper Bryce Larkin to _the_ Regiment. Sarah had had the misfortunes of being partnered with Bryce during their SERE exercises. She had found out very quickly that Bryce Larkin was so full of himself and he had even almost compromised their escape and evasion at one point by becoming so occupied in boasting about his military achievements and flirting with her. Sarah had worked so hard to get to where she was today. And she wasn't going to compromise herself and to throw it all away by mixing her professional life with her private life. Bryce wasn't all bad, though. He certainly had unbelievable endurance levels which were arguably better than her own. Bryce also did have some useful input during their SERE once Sarah had not so politely reminded him that she didn't screw the guys she worked with. After settling that misunderstanding, they grew to work quite well together as a pair as they avoided their hunter force SFSG with nothing more than a WW2 greatcoat. During their exercise, there was a special hunter force guarding a bridge, and they had decided to swim across downstream to avoid the soldiers.

Selection for Sarah had first begun almost fourteen months ago. She had attended a Special Forces Briefing Course that lasted for one week. As all of the United Kingdom Special Forces training was conducted together up until the soldier or sailor receiving the beige beret, two briefing courses took place. The first, and the one that Sarah had attended, was the SFBC ran by 22 SAS. The purpose of the briefing course was to give ratings and other rank aspirants an insight into the preparation and selection process for UKSF selection, and subsequent career progression inside the SAS and the course is the very first step in the selection progress. The SBS (Special Boat Service) was the unit that hosted the second briefing course. The SBS was the sister regiment to the SAS, and they were a part of the Royal Navy as opposed to the SAS, who belonged to the British Army.

During the course, the potential candidates were all briefed in detail on Special Forces employment and on the activities that would take place during actual selection. Sarah and the rest of the candidates undertook a map and compass test, a swimming test, a first aid test and a combat fitness test which included numerous walks and runs in hilly terrain.

After the course, the course instructors had advised the likelihood of failure on selection to the candidates, and Sarah and the rest of candidates were all provided with a robust training programme to prepare for the process if they decided to go ahead with volunteering for selection. After Sarah's SFBC, followed a trip to the Brecon Beacons several months later, where Sarah and the rest of the candidates were required to undertake four weeks of extensive fitness tests. The Brecon Beacons were a mountain range in Wales, the United Kingdom and they were _renowned_ for being a challenging environment, which is why British Special Forces used it as its primary fitness training and endurance location.

On the very first day of Sarah's selection, there were two hundred and fifty potential special forces recruits that had applied for selection. But during the first phase of selection, in where Sarah had seen one candidate die, and another sent to intensive care in hospital from heat exhaustion, that number had sharply dropped and by the end of the first phase, there were just twenty-five candidates left remaining. More than ninety percent of volunteers had all dropped out for some reason or another. It was typical for fifteen to twenty percent of recruits to make it past the first month, so that figure during Sarah's selection was lower than average. Sarah at the time had put it down to the death of the first soldier, and the second soldier going into intensive care which served as a stark reminder that only the grittiest and most determined of candidates would survive the entire nine months of the most challenging training they could ever possibly undertake.

The first three weeks of the first phase of selection were devoted to gradual and progressive physical training exercises designed to develop physical and navigational ability. Exercise HIGH WALK had taken place on day six, in which Sarah and the rest of the volunteers marched 23 kilometres over the Brecon Beacons. The purpose of Exercise HIGH WALK was to identify individuals that were not adequately fit enough to continue on with the course, and there were many of those, Sarah could safely tell you that. The remaining time after HIGH WALK, was dedicated to preparing the volunteers for Test Week, which was the fourth and final week of the first phase. Test Week consisted of five timed marches of between 23 and 28km conducted on consecutive days followed by a final endurance march of 64km known as The Long Drag. If the candidates did not complete The Long Drag within 20 hours, then the candidates would fail the course, and their selection progress would be over. Sarah and the rest of the volunteers were also required to carry bergens (rucksacks) on their backs during Test Week, and the weight would increase from 40lb (18kg) to 59 lb (27kg) and in addition to their bergens, water, food and a rifle were mandatory to be carried on all marches. Volunteers were also required to pass numerous equally as intensive swimming exercises before the first phase of selection came to a close.

After the first phase of selection then followed twelve weeks of intensive jungle training, tactics techniques and protocols training, and finally weapons and standard operating procedures training in where a further ten recruits would also throw in the towel.

Following the jungle for Sarah came fourteen weeks of Employment training, which provided Sarah and the rest of the candidates with the necessary tools to serve as a special forces soldier. This period included surveillance and reconnaissance training, army combat survival, special forces parachute training, counter-terrorism course, signals training and finally, patrol training and squadron induction training.

Once Sarah and the remaining candidates had passed employment training, then came the final phase of selection. The Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract training phase. This exercise required Sarah and her fellow candidates and so many candidates before her to undergo an evasion exercise whilst dressed in greatcoats to restrict movement. During the exercise, Sarah and the rest of the candidates had split into small groups, and they had to escape and evade a hunter force from the Special Forces Support Group. Even if the candidates successfully managed to avoid the hunter force, all candidates must undergo a Resistance to Interrogation stage for thirty-six hours. And for Sarah, this had been the most challenging part of her entire selection.

Before Sarah had received her beige beret, she used to be Lance Corporal Sarah Walker, Royal Green Jackets. But on joining the SAS, you were stripped of, and you were removed of your previous rank, and you would start anew as just a trooper. Sarah had served as a combat medic in the British Army for four years. She had had two deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and she had been on the frontline on both occasions. Sarah had always been very physically active throughout her life even before the army as she was a very successful amateur runner. Sarah had run numerous marathons, so her endurance levels were incredibly high. When Sarah had learnt in 2006 that the ban on women serving in Ground Close Combat roles was no longer, she was so ecstatic because it was one of her actual reservations about joining the military in the first place. Before she had signed up, she had heavily debated back and forth as to whether she even should or not, because why should Sarah be treated lesser than that of her male counterparts? In the modern-day, and with the advocacy of women's rights worldwide, Sarah had failed to understand why men could fight for their country, but women couldn't. In times of war, it should be the responsibility of every able body to defend their homeland and their country. Why should military conscription only apply to men? If you were treated equally in an every day nine to five with equal pay, then you should be in the military too.

So on learning that all positions were now open to women, Sarah immediately evaluated her status and her career in the army, and she had almost instantly decided that being a combat medic in the British Army was no longer good enough for her. Almost immediately, she had applied to attend the Special Forces Briefing Course, and following that course, she had spent several months preparing herself, before immediately applying for selection to join the best unit in the army, the Special Air Service. Sarah knew it would have been the most challenging test and challenge of her life, but after years in the military of being looked down upon because of being a female even as just a medic, Sarah had built up an abundance of grit and determination necessary to pass selection, and she did pass. Did she pass by the skin of her teeth? Quite possibly. There were numerous times during that long and challenging nine months that she had considered throwing in the towel. Boy, there were times. But she had gotten through it. But now here she was, all of her doubters that she had ever had throughout her life proved wrong. With her new beret in hand, Sarah moved to take a seat on one of the chairs in the briefing room next to Sergeant Cole Barker. The masculine Sergeant quickly noted her presence, and he nodded at her, and they shared a warm smile as she moved to sit down next to her new teammate.

Sarah then began to wait in pause for the arrival of her new CO. She had met him during her SERE. He had explained her roles and responsibilities, and he had also detailed the present deployment of her new troop, which was counter-terror duties.

A few minutes passed until Sarah began to notice activity and she watched on as her new CO, Captain Wallace entered into the briefing room and he made his way to the front of the briefing room. With the Captain now being in place to begin the introduction, he waited to address his new recruits until the soldiers that were late had all gathered.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

With everybody having now gathered in their seats, the Captain began. "Now that we're all here," he paused, and Sarah watched on as her new CO glanced distastefully at the culprits that had turned up late to the briefing. "I know Chuck has kindly welcomed you both here,"

"Better him than me!" Trooper Jamie Hughes interjected which earnt laughter from the whole troop including the CO.

"I'll remember that and have you do the next one, Trooper," Captain Wallace replied, earning another chuckle from his men.

"Aw, shite!" Trooper Hughes said, which earnt further laughter from his comrades.

"You dropped yourself in it there, fella," Trooper Murray said to his friend, and Trooper Hughes nodded his head.

"Now, back on topic, it's customary to have a formal introduction here to the rest of the troop on your first day. I'm assuming Corporal Bartowski has had you both collect your gear?" Captain Wallace asked.

"Yes, sir," Sarah quickly replied, followed by Bryce following suit.

"Great. So welcome to _the_ Regiment. With the fateful helicopter crash whilst on exercises a few months ago, we have been dreadfully short on personnel. Sarah, it's good to have a female finally here, and it's long overdue. You've earnt your way here, and you deserve to be here as much as anyone in this room," Captain Wallace said, which caused her to smile as she began to fill up with pride over her accomplishment and her new CO's praise and she also heard one or two "hear, hears," from some of her new teammates.

"Thank you, sir," Sarah responded warmly.

"Trooper Larkin, I've heard that you took a fond interest with explosives during selection?" Captain Wallace asked.

Bryce nodded before jokingly responding, "Yes, sir. I like to see things go bang," which earnt him an approving laugh from many of the gathered soldiers.

"Jolly good! You'll take over as the team's primary breacher," Captain Wallace stated.

Bryce nodded. "Gladly, sir."

"Goodman! It's good to have a proper one. We're growing quite sick of Trooper Murray applying too much pressure to explosives in the Killing House which keeps busting our ears," the CO joked, and he was quickly followed by numerous, "Too bloody right!" remarks from his men.

"Trooper Walker, you'll be taking over as the team's medic," the CO then said, and Sarah nodded.

"Well... Barring any immediate scramble, I think that's about all. Hopefully, Al-Qaeda will give us a few days for you to learn some techniques from the best. Well, that's all, I'll leave Red Team in the company of the Staff Sergeant. I'm sure he has some tasking for you slackers to do today," the CO joked causing more than half of the room to laugh.

"What about you, sir?" Trooper Daniel Thomas asked.

"I'm heading off to do some slacking of my own," he joked furthering the laughter of his men.

"It's alright for some," Chuck replied humorously causing the laughter in the briefing room to continue.

"You should have gone to Sandhurst (officer academy) yourself then, Corporal. You certainly have the nous to become an officer," the CO stated sincerely to one of his best troop members.

"Amen to that!" Sarah then heard some shouts from her new teammates. It was evident to Sarah that her new teammate Chuck commanded a lot of respect and that he was held in very high esteem by her new teammates and officer alike.

"I might just do that and come back to steal your job," Chuck joked, causing more laughter in the briefing room.

"And on that note, I'll now be sleeping with one eye open," Captain Wallace joked before he finished the introduction with, "dismissed."

Captain Wallace then departed the briefing room, and chatter in the room immediately picked up between most of the soldiers present inside the room as some members of Blue Team also began to depart with the introduction now being over.

Sarah then began to observe as the Staff Sergeant who she hadn't been introduced to yet stood up. From his appearance, he looked to be middle-aged, stocky, and he had a bald head. He seemed quite rugged, and the way he presented himself with his demeanour seemed to imply that he appeared to take no nonsense from anyone. He certainly seemed to be a real handful, that's for sure.

"For the new ones, I'm Staff Sergeant Chris MacDonald and Red Team Leader," the Staff Sergeant said in a deep Scottish voice. "You're both replacing two damn fine operators, and you have some big boots to fill. You're not going to get it easy for your first few days, and you're going to be thrown right in at the deep end. Your selection was just the beginning. You've not made it yet, and everyone in this room is training on a never-ending basis just like you will be. Hundreds have been returned to their unit once getting their beret so don't get complacent just because you think you've made it or you'll be out of the door just like them…"

Sarah was still listening to the Staff Sergeant's remarks when Cole leant into her causing her to adjust and slant herself to make eye contact with him.

"He accepts nothing less than the best. There's no room for failure under his command," Cole stated to Sarah, and she watched on as Cole glanced behind him slightly as Bryce was also sitting just behind them both.

"Don't worry. Chris is a real cuddly bear once you get to know him and prove your worth to him," Chuck joked from where he was seated behind Sarah and next to Bryce. Sarah then watched Cole, and John Murray both nodded their heads in agreement with Chuck's joke slash statement.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Later that Evening**

After the introduction, Sarah had headed along with the rest of her new team to the shooting range. Whilst they were there, herself and Bryce had zeroed in their new weapons whilst the other operators in Red Team had taken part in a shooting competition, in which Chuck had won.

The full team had now arrived at the Killing House. Blue Team had been given the facility in the afternoon, and it was now Red Team's turn have the facility at their disposal for the evening. Red Team consisted of Trooper Walker, Corporal Bartowski, Trooper Larkin, Sergeant Barker, Trooper Murray, Trooper Thomas, Trooper Hughes and finally, Team Leader Staff Sergeant MacDonald.

Bryce and Sarah, as the new recruits to the team, were presently inside of the Killing House. It was typical as the newest member or members of the team for the rookies to play the role of the hostage for their first time or times and as such, they had both been placed inside of the Killing House in Room 1C on the ground floor and they had both been bound and restrained.

Sarah had been in pause for the past four minutes, and her adrenalin was pumping because she was not sure what to expect. Glancing in the direction of where her new teammate Bryce has been secured, he winked in her direction, which caused her to puff out a sigh and a frown began to form. Sarah had no chance to do much else or respond to her teammate's latest attempt at flirtation because no sooner than Bryce had winked at her, an explosion suddenly ripped through where a door used to be.

The sheer pressure used in the explosion caused Sarah's ears to pop, and to further add to her now extremely disorientated state, a stun grenade was thrown in her direction and it immediately exploded on impact. Sarah instantly began to fight hard to overcome her disorientation when suddenly, four of her teammates were now all around her vicinity dressed in full assault gear, and she began to hear bursts of gunfire echoing all around the room through her muffled and disorientated hearing.

Sarah began to survey the situation, as two assaulters and teammates engaged numerous targets around her vicinity, as a third and fourth began to storm towards her and Bryce's locations, and they quickly cut away the binds placed around their feet before they applied plasticuffs to both herself and Bryce. And no sooner than Sarah was bound once more, she was then forcefully grappled, and she was dragged out of the room that she was in. She immediately looked behind her to see another assaulter grappling and dragging Bryce out along with her, whilst a third and fourth moved to hover over a sofa, and she watched on as they each fired off a rapid burst onto two already neutralised targets on the couch to make sure that they were deceased and no further threat to the team.

On departing Room 1C by being dragged out by her teammate, he continued to drag her along the hallway until finally leaving the Killing House, at which point, he then proceeded to throw her onto the grass causing her to lose her balance and tumble towards the floor. On landing on the lawn outside of the Killing House, the disorientation caused by the blast and stun grenades was still present for Sarah, and she watched on as a second assaulter threw Bryce onto the grass next to her. She began to glance at him on the floor from where they were laying, and he smiled at her. He was obviously loving and enjoying every single minute of it. And if the truth be told, so was she. Because _this_ was precisely why she signed up in the first place. When Sarah decided to sign up to join the army more than five years ago, she didn't imagine that she would ever get a chance to be in the SAS. If you had told her that five years on she would now be a member of _the_ Regiment, she wouldn't have imagined it in her wildest dreams, and she would have called you insane. Sarah's desires and aspirations were to one day be at least allowed into the infantry, but here she was now the best of the best, the first female in _the_ Regiment.

Sarah's thoughts were interrupted as two of her teammates dressed in full black assault gear with gas masks began to walk towards both her and Bryce and as they walked closer towards the new recruits, they each began to take out their huge combat knives once more before they began cutting away the plasticuffs and upper binds from where their teammates had placed them in the Killing House. Once the bindings were removed, they then began to help Sarah and Bryce to their feet. Once they were standing, Sarah watched on as the assaulters slash team members all began to remove their masks and helmets.

"Are you ok?" John Murray, the trooper that had helped Sarah to her feet shouted because he could see the disorientation still present on her face.

"My ears are ringing! I can't hear shit!" Sarah complained in a raised tone of voice, and she watched Trooper Murray and several other members of her team laugh approvingly.

"Sorry love! My fault! Must have overdone the explosives! That's what they brought Bryce for!" he joked as he looked at Bryce, and Bryce nodded, and he started to laugh approvingly along with the rest of the team.

"And not a moment too soon either! The bastard has done it to me too numerous times!" Chuck chimed into the discussion who was the one who had helped Bryce up to his feet.

Trooper Murray began to laugh in approval at his friend's declaration.

Sarah, Bryce, Chuck and John then began to walk over to link up with, and join their four other teammates that were stood at the entrance to the Killing House.

"The exercise took twenty seconds to complete," Captain Wallace informed the team over their communications channel.

"Oh, bollocks! We can do a hell of a lot better than that!" Cole declared in frustration off air to his teammates stood outside of the Killing House.

Most of the operators promptly began to nod their heads in strong agreement with Cole's declaration.

"Too right, mate! It's because it's the first exercise after dinner. We're getting fucking sloppy!" Big Dan stated with distaste, and he started to frown in disgust because he and his teammates didn't achieve the required high standards that they set of themselves.

"What's an acceptable time?" Sarah asked in a quieter voice as she was now starting to overcome her disorientation from the blast and the stun grenade.

"Fifteen seconds. Eighteen max. We've achieved thirteen once, but everything went perfect then. We've not managed to achieve it again, and we've tried dozens of times, believe me," Chuck said, and Sarah watched every seasoned operator nod their head in agreement whilst Bryce as a newbie to the team, just laughed.

"At least our commands and communications were good, though," Trooper Hughes stated, and the team nodded their heads...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah and Bryce had now both recovered from their disorientation, and they were now dressed in full assault gear as it was now their turn to assault the Killing House. Room 1C would now be unable to be used until the support personnel of 22 Reg are able to remake it for further use, so Room 2B was the chosen target this time around which was on the upper floor of the facility. The plan of attack was for the crack SAS team to storm in through the ground floor, rush upstairs, and eliminate targets along the way. Numerous explosions would be occurring as decoys in both the upper and lower hallways, as well as a feint assault through one of the two windows in room 2B. The real attack, however, would come from Bryce breaching room 2B with a Remington 870 Shotgun using hatton breaching rounds. This type of breaching would always occur whenever possible to minimise the risk of harming any Yankees (hostages) inside of the location.

The small elite team were now in position outside of the Killing House, and the Team Leader Staff Sergeant MacDonald was now going through final instructions with the team's newest recruits.

"You've both had our standard operating procedures instilled into you during selection, and you have extensively learnt our tactics. You know what the team expects of you. This exercise isn't a game; it's the real thing. Live firing: life and death. If one of ours goes down, man down corridor one and that's it, you move on. If you linger to help him, then you've removed yourself from the engagement, and instead of engaging the x-ray (the terrorist) when you could have had them in your sights, your two other mates get it, and one dead becomes three."

Sarah and Bryce nodded at their team leader's instruction and commands.

"Let's do this," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said as he turned away from the team and he entered into the Killing House leaving the small team outside...

**A few seconds later**

The elite SAS assault team were now in position outside of the Killing House to begin the assault. Chuck would be the first assaulter inside, Sarah would be following up behind, followed by Cole, Trooper Thomas and finally Bryce with the breaching shotgun.

Sarah was stood in pause when she began to hear activity on the team's communication channel, and Staff Sergeant MacDonald came on air, "Standby, standby, execute!"

With the command to begin the assault being given, Chuck was inside the Killing House in an instant whilst also lobbing in a flashbang. Sarah quickly followed her teammate inside, and she caught up to him as she began to walk parallel to him, and they immediately engaged the same target each firing off numerous rounds. Advancing further into the facility, the entrance corridor came to an end, and Chuck turned left, while Sarah turned right out into the main hallway on the ground floor. Sarah quickly began to scan her new surroundings with the flashlight attached to her MP5 until her sights trained onto her Team Leader, Staff Sergeant MacDonald, who was exposed and he was standing right in the middle of the corridor, and he was waving at her with a wide smile. Sarah instantly dismissed him as a threat to her, and she doubled back to her team, and they were now advancing and engaging targets on the large stairwell heading up to the first floor. Chuck had the lead of the assault, followed by Bryce, then Trooper Thomas, then Sarah and finally Cole. The team continued to engage two targets up on the first floor from the stairway when suddenly, Chuck collapsed, and he fell down the stairway, and her wounded teammate immediately began to scream in agony.

Time quickly stood still, and Sarah watched on as Bryce moved ahead of Chuck, and she watched as he turned around to look at Chuck briefly, but he quickly cancelled it out, and he continued on whilst Trooper Thomas ignored his fallen friend completely as he ascended the stairwell to assault the target location. On Sarah arriving in Chuck's vicinity, she quickly began to panic as her fallen teammate seemed to be in immense agony, and after having served as a medic for four years, her first thought was instantly to treat her fallen comrade, and she immediately rushed to his aid as she began looking for any sign of wound and injury to her new comrade.

It was then when Chuck began to take off his mask whilst he continued screaming whilst gunfire was continuing to erupt inside of the Killing House when suddenly, Chuck started to grapple Sarah and he spookily shouted, "Gotcha!"

Sarah instantly did a double-take, and she became disorientated on her teammate seemingly restored to norma. Chuck was no longer screaming in immense agony when suddenly, she was being grappled and manhandled from behind by Cole Barker, the fifth assaulter.

"You don't stop! For fuck sake, you never stop!" he shouted at her, and he pushed her up the stairs, and she immediately knew that Chuck had tricked her and that her teammate wasn't injured, but instead, she had fucked up the exercise massively. She quickly continued on to link up with Bryce and Trooper Thomas as they assaulted room 2B and they secured the hostages. With Trooper Murray and Trooper Hughes now secured, the team of four quickly rush them back outside of the Killing House, and Sarah immediately stormed away from the vicinity, and she yanked her helmet and gas mask from her head, and she threw it to the floor in immense frustration from her cock up that she would almost certainly now face stern criticism for.

_FUCK! FUCKING GODDAMNIT!_

A few seconds passed, and Sarah couldn't bear to turn around to look at her teammates in utter shame and dread when suddenly, the Staff Sergeant came storming out of the Killing House, and he charged right up into Sarah's face.

"YOU DON'T STOP FOR A FUCKING MAN DOWN!" the SSgt screamed aggressively into Sarah's face, but she couldn't bear to look at her team leader in shame.

And by now, Sarah and the SSgt had been joined by the rest of the team.

"Where the fuck do they find these fucking amateurs!" the SSgt fumed as he glanced around his team and he furiously began to shake his head disapprovingly in a pissed off state of mind.

"Back off, Chris. She already knows she fucked up," Chuck intervened, and Sarah watched on as the SSgt turned his attention towards Chuck instead.

"And don't you start getting fucking soft on us 'cause she's a female, and you want to get your leg over!" the SSgt fumed into Chuck's face.

Sarah then began to observe as tensions started to flare and she watched as her new teammate didn't even flinch and he got right back into the face of Staff Sergeant MacDonald, and he pushed him back forcefully causing the rugged Staff Sergeant to tumble back several yards, and she watched as her other teammates prepared to separate her two team members if fists start getting thrown all because of her mistake.

"You can go and fuck right off with that fucking bullshit, Chris!" Chuck shouted aggressively, and he took a forward stance as he squared up into the SSgt's face on being accused of something so ludicrous. "It's an honest day one rookie mistake, and the training will iron it out of her in the coming days..."

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

It had been a brief cooling-off period, and tempers had now calmed down after Sarah's rookie mistake.

Sarah was presently standing in the company of Chuck and Cole, and the rest of their team were gathered around in their own discussion whilst the three new teammates engaged in their own one.

"I fucked up," Sarah admitted in shame, and she found it hard to look at her two teammates stood facing her.

"Don't sweat over it. We all myself included made some mistakes on our first days," Cole said reassuringly, and Sarah watched as Chuck nodded.

"At least you own your mistakes. You'll get better. Your initial executions were good. I went down because we always practise as if it's real. It's just dynamic training. No hard feelings," Chuck said as he offered out his hand to her and he smiled warmly at her.

Sarah took a moment to register his words before she quickly began to nod in agreement, and she moved to take his hand, and she returned the smile.

"Yeah, no hard feelings," she said.

"Gear up, you three. We're going to do it again and again and again and be here all night if we have to until Walker has learnt our operating procedure…" Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**The next day**

Sarah had been a member of Mobility Troop, G Squadron for one day now and she didn't sleep well at all last night. After the screw up inside of the Killing House and having had her Team Leader down her thought until her teammate Chuck offered her some respite which she did not deserve, she hadn't messed up their tactics again. From her perspective, it was just so hard for her after being a combat medic in the Royal Green Jackets for four years to walk away from and leave a teammate of hers injured on the floor. Sarah wasn't questioning or second-guessing the operating procedure. It was a sound policy. MacDonald was indeed correct in that if she lingered on Chuck, it was very possible that Bryce and Cole, as well as herself, may have been lit up by an assailant on the stairwell. But she was just so pissed off with herself for making a mistake on her first day with her new team. She was already getting sly glances and looks on base because she was a female. And now yesterday's incident would only serve to cement it further as she was now sure that she was the talk of the base right now. Bryce meanwhile, had already fitted in completely. He looked as if he has been one of the team for years.

Sighing to herself, she entered the cafeteria, once more receiving glances from a group of the squadron. They all stopped talking, and they glanced in her direction, and she was sure that she was the topic of that present conversation.

Sarah then collected some lunch, and she moved to sit down on one of the benches. Sarah then began eating with not much appetite caused by her dread for a short moment when Chuck joined her. He was stood opposite her, and he moved to sit facing her.

"You don't need to sit with me just because I'm the new girl," she said sarcastically to him.

"No, I don't. But I'm here to sit with you because you're my new teammate,_ not_ the new girl. I don't give a fuck about your gender. Don't let it get under your skin," he said reassuringly.

"I feel like they don't want me here. Bryce has already fitted in, and the team and the squadron love him already," Sarah stated as she glanced over to where Bryce was seated, and he was laughing and joking away with six members of G Squadron.

"Sarah, it's a new experience for all of us. You're the first female in the Regiment, it's true. And you're also gorgeous, by the way. So I'm sure some of the guys aren't too comfortable being around you for that reason alone. But you deserve to be here. You went through the same selection as all of us. Don't let anyone take away from you that fact. You did the same training as all of us," he declared, and she smiled at him.

"I won't let anybody take that away from me," she said with conviction.

She then watched him shrug his shoulders before he asked, "Then what's the problem?"

She sighed for a long moment. "I've worked my ass off for this, Chuck. I feel like I've been on trial every single day for my entire five years in the army. You don't know how hard it is as a female in the military for people to take you seriously," she admitted, and she watched as he nodded.

"You're right. I don't know what that's like. But you'll prove your worth to _the_ Regiment, Sarah, trust me. My first day, I was second-guessing if I belonged here myself. Seeing all the guys I saw, I didn't feel like I was their equal. I felt an outsider. Exactly how you are feeling right now. But look at me now. I'm still an ugly bastard, but I'll run through hell for every one of these lads, they know it, and they know that I mean it. And I'm sure you will do the same for them."

Sarah laughed briefly at the absurdness of her new teammate's ugly comments, as his remarks were quite clearly the furthest thing away from being the truth because if the truth were told, then she actually found her new teammate to be rather attractive to look at. "I'm not so sure I agree with you on you being an ugly bastard, Chuck. But as for everything else, I would and will go through hell for my teammates. That's why I came to your aid in the Killing House because I believed you were injured and I wanted to help you."

She watched him smile at her before he said, "So suck it up and take it on your chin. Prove your worth to the team and in a short while from now; you will feel your value to the rest of the guys. Trust me…"

**End of Chapter**

**AN3 **I know that this chapter didn't contain the mission, but after reading the chapter, I'm sure you can see why I structured it as so. I wanted to end the chapter with Sarah's frustrations and not feeling valued as a team member like everybody else and Bryce, especially, as he joined the same time as her.

The Next Chapter will be her proving her worth to the team on the mission that they undertake. Their first mission will begin as soon as the next chapter starts, and I'll see you in a few days.

As always, please review! :)

Next Chapter:

"YOU! IN THE BLACK COAT! STOP!" Sarah commanded as she trained her sights onto the spine of the woman she had just commanded to stop.

"TURN AROUND!" she commanded, but the woman ignored her request.

"I SAID TURN AROUND OR SO HELP ME I'LL PUT ONE THROUGH YOU RIGHT WHERE YOU STAND!" Sarah commanded once more. And by now, her entire team were now also training their sights on the woman their teammate Bryce had just let pass...


	3. Chapter 3

**AN1 **I haven't received many reviews for Chapter Two yet. If you haven't read that yet, then please do read and review it. I love to read your thoughts.

**AN2 **Warning for violence. This chapter will contain a terrorist attack, and I don't condone or promote any kind of terrorism. I'm a proud British patriot. This is just fiction, nothing more :)

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Three**

* * *

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

Sarah was now well into her fourth day as an SAS trooper, and she was presently stood outside and preparing to enter the situation room on her base. Sarah and the rest of Red Team had been kept busy for the past few days with training exercises. Red Team had been practising advanced driving techniques for most of the afternoon when their pagers had all gone off in sync, and they had been alerted of a developing situation. Red Team were subsequently ordered to the situation room because of them being one of the two stood to troops to respond to any terrorist threat.

Moving to enter inside, Sarah glanced around the room, and almost every member of her troop was in attendance as was the Commanding Officer of 22 Regiment, Colonel Philip Wood. Sarah observed as most of the soldiers and officers had their eyes focused onto a large television along with numerous secondary monitors nearby. The large television was playing out a live BBC Newsfeed in what looked a lot like London. She should know, because London was her birth city.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked a soldier from Blue Team present inside of the situation room.

The soldier paused from his activities, to glance at Sarah instead. "There has been a terrorist attack in the Centre of London. Someone has just blown themselves up at Piccadilly Circus Tube Station," the soldier replied, glancing at Sarah with a look of concern.

"Oh my god!" Sarah gasped in horror as adrenalin instantly began to build up inside of her because if this attack was sophisticated, then there was a genuine chance that the Commanding Officer may order herself and her team to deploy to deal with and eliminate the threat.

"Yeah. Fucking bastards! Regimental CO has just told us that COBR (The Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) are meeting immediately and the briefing is being chaired by the Home Secretary to plan their response. It looks like a gunbattle and a possible hostage situation is unfolding at a secondary location at a shopping centre in Hammersmith and Fulham in West London,"

Sarah interrupted, "Yeah. I know the area. I'm from around there," she paused as she began to breathe out a long, deep depressive sigh. "Do you have any more information?"

"Not much. It's a realtime situation, and everyone is scrambling to find out what the fuck is going down. All I know is that the location is the Westfield London shopping centre, and it's looking like an unknown number of terrorists have stormed the shopping centre, and they have begun shooting. We're still waiting on confirmation that they're wearing explosive vests, but we're pretty sure they are," the soldier informed Sarah, and she shook her head in extreme disgust at the discovery that her country is now under attack.

"Are the attacks linked to each other?" she asked.

The soldier furiously nodded his head. "Oh, undoubtedly. It seems to be a coordinated set of attacks. We'll probably deploy to the scene. You've only been in the Reg for a few days, and you're already getting something big. I hope you're ready. It's ok if you're..."

Sarah quickly interrupted him before he could finish, "I'm ready. Tonight's attack is why I volunteered. Our country is under attack. I'm here to stop bastards like these," she stated with absolute conviction.

Sarah observed as the soldier began to smile at her in approval. "That's good to hear! Good luck tonight if I don't see you again. Joe Lewis, by the way," the soldier said, and he offered out his hand.

Sarah moved to shake his hand. "Sarah Walker. And good luck to you too," she finished, and her comrade then began to walk away, while she began to study and listen to the large television inside the room.

The anchor hosting the special live report on the news channel then came on the air. "This is BBC News at 9pm. We are live from the capital, and we are watching what appears to be a sophisticated terrorist attack on the United Kingdom unfolding right before our own eyes. The country had been on high alert ever since the London Bombings two years ago, and it looks like we are sadly facing another mass casualty scenario once more. We don't have much information right now as to who may be behind this. But here is what we do know: Within the past thirty minutes, there has been an apparent suicide bomber attack on Piccadilly Circus Tube Station. Eyewitnesses at the scene have confirmed to us that a massive explosion occurred at the scene and eyewitnesses have reported that there are many casualties and almost certainly fatalities. We don't have any kind of numbers to bring to you right now. There have also been reports of loud bursts of gunfire at a separate location at the Westfield London shopping centre. Watchers as you will likely already know, the shopping centre is one of the most frequently visited shopping centres in the country. Armed Police are responding to both locations, and they will undoubtedly be stretched thin with a distance of five miles between the incidents. We will be speaking live to Emma Bunting right now, who is an eyewitness at Piccadilly Circus station. "

"Bastards!" Sarah cursed to herself under her breath in the form of a loud whisper. With her attention on the television now at an end, Sarah began to walk over to the location of her team inside the situation room, who were all gathered closely together in a corner of the situation room. On arrival, she glanced at her team. Some of her team had their heads in their hands, while some were looking frustrated and in a pissed off frame of mind, much like how she was feeling herself at this exact moment.

"They don't want to fucking negotiate. 7/7, Madrid, 9/11 proved that. They are just there for mass casualties. Hostage bargaining is a thing of the past. Times are changing," Cole Barker stated, and Sarah watched as most of her team nodded their heads in strong agreement, and even she nodded in agreement with her teammate's declaration.

"Then what the fuck are we delaying for? Why aren't we being sent in?" Bryce asked, and Sarah drowned out all of the background noise inside of the situation room to instead listen to the response as she was also wondering the same thing.

"Approval has to come from the Home Secretary. They won't call us in until the Home Secretary has given COBR approval," Chuck stated while glancing at both Bryce and Sarah with them both being new to this, so he made sure to provide clarity on their rules of engagement.

"That's fucked up! We should be on our way there right now to neutralise the fuckers," Bryce replied in frustration, and Sarah wholeheartedly agreed, while she watched on as most of the team also nodded in agreement.

"That's politics for you, mate!" Trooper Murray said to his teammate.

**Three minutes later**

The elite operators of both Mobility Troop and Mountain Troop continued to remain standing ready inside the situation room glued to the footage playing out before their eyes when the Regimental CO's aides began to clamour for attention.

"Heads up," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said to his team and the entire situation room quickly silenced to the point where you could hear a pin drop to pay attention to the Regimental CO.

"I'm still waiting for the call to come in to deploy. COBR is meeting as we speak and they're planning out their response. Mobility troop, I want you geared up and ready for if the call comes in. If it does, then it's your show. Mountain troop, you're to remain on immediate standby for any secondary attacks," Colonel Wood commanded and no sooner than Mobility troop had been given the order from the Regimental CO, Sarah quickly scrambled along with the rest of her troop out of the situation room to head to gear up as they awaited the call to deploy to the active ongoing situation in their nation's capital.

**Twenty minutes later**

Sarah was now wearing full assault dress, and she was back inside the situation room as she and her team continued to wait for the Home Secretary to give them the green light for them to deploy to London to intervene in the attack. Four AgustaWestland AW109 helicopters were on immediate standby to transport Mobility troop to the situation as soon as the order was given for the SAS to intervene in the situation.

Sarah paused idle, and her eyes continued to glue onto the large television as the BBC news anchor continued to provide the news to the listener. "We're still live with you in Central London and in the last few moments, the Metropolitan police have confirmed that they are now dealing with an active situation at a third location. The metropolitan police have now confirmed that gunfire is occurring at a music concert at a venue in Hackney."

Sarah was immediately interrupted from paying attention to the news report as the Regimental CO began to speak once more.

"Right, that's it! Mobility troop, you now have the green light! The Home Secretary wants an end to this. It's evident that the attack is extremely well-coordinated and sophisticated and is occurring in numerous locations. CO19 (Armed Metropolitan Police) are stretched too thin to deal with three active locations, and at least seven armed hostiles with explosive vests and assault rifles and they have requested our expertise to nullify the threat. It's over to you now, Captain Wallace," Colonel Wood said to a room filled with almost forty people, but you wouldn't know that because right now, you could hear a pin drop inside the situation room as they listened intently to their CO.

"Yes, sir," Captain Wallace said with an approving nod before addressing the soldiers under his command. "Right then! Let's mount up! We'll be apprised of more in the air, and we'll discuss deployments on the way! But I want to be wheels up and in the air RIGHT NOW!" the Captain shouted to his soldiers as the entirety of Mobility troop scrambled out of the situation room to embark into the four waiting helicopters provided to them by No. 658 Squadron Army Air Corps...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Sarah was inside one of the four mobile AgustaWestland AW109 helicopters that were now transporting two crack SAS teams to the terrorist attack occurring in London. The ETA for the two teams to arrive at their destination in the capital was thirty-five minutes. The four helicopters that were transporting the two teams were customised to facilitate the rappelling from the aircraft if necessary. The other soldiers that were present on this particular helicopter with Sarah were Corporal Chuck Bartowski, Trooper Bryce Larkin and Staff Sergeant MacDonald. The rest of Sarah's team consisting of Sergeant Cole Barker, Trooper Hughes, Trooper Murray and Trooper Thomas were being transported on a second AW109 as the AW109 could carry a maximum load of six passengers, so the two teams were split evenly. Captain Wallace was also present, and he was in one of the AW109s that was transporting Blue Team to the incidents.

And as the birds continued to race towards the capital, Sarah was beginning to psych herself up, and she began to glance at her teammates occasionally, while they were glancing back at her when suddenly, her CO came on the air.

"I'm liaising with command and control back at Hereford. Staff Sergeant MacDonald, we want your team to take over the incident at the Westfield London shopping centre. Gunfire is still occurring there, and armed police units are presently engaged in a gunbattle, and they are not attempting to contain or defuse the situation until we arrive as the terrorists have no intention to do so. Liaise the location with your pilots. You'll have the location on your GPS," Captain Wallace said into the team's communication channel.

"Yes, sir," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.

Sarah then heard her CO appear back on their communications channel once more.

"I'll be deploying with Blue Team, and I'll set up base in the vicinity of the concert venue in Hackney, and I will control the operations on the ground. Gunfire hasn't occurred from the location in a short while. The venue seems to have turned into a hostage situation, so the armed police attending this location are attempting to contain the situation until we arrive. Blue Team will have control of the situation as the green light has already been given for both teams take immediate command and to disperse police units in the immediate area of the attacks however we see fit once we're on the ground."

The CO then went off the air after finishing apprising his team of the situation, and Sarah continued to fill up with adrenalin and nerves over what they were actually about to fly into.

"Just how big actually is this operation?" she shouted to her three teammates onboard the helicopter.

"It's the biggest counter-terror operation that I have ever been part of for sure. There are three active locations!" Chuck shouted back, and SSgt MacDonald nodded in agreement.

"How the fuck did an attack this big go unnoticed by the intelligence agencies?" Bryce shouted to his three teammates.

"It's not our place to judge, Trooper! Our only concern is to save lives and to send the terrorists to an early death!" SSgt MacDonald shouted back, and Sarah watched as Chuck nodded his head.

**A few minutes later**

The four AW109s were still on route to the capital to deal with the terrorist incidents occurring inside London when Captain Wallace came on air once more.

"I am receiving information from command back at Hereford," the CO paused briefly. "The incident at Westfield London shopping centre has been resolved! Tactical armed police units have stormed the centre, and they have shot dead two X-rays, and a third blew himself up!"

"Good fucking riddance!" Chuck shouted approvingly into the communications channel, and Sarah watched as her two other teammates nodded their heads furiously in agreement.

"Too bloody right!" Sarah also heard Trooper John Murray on a second AW109 shout back.

"Are we still heading to the scene, sir?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked.

"No. You're being rerouted. Inform your pilot that you'll be inserted at the concert venue to join up with Blue instead."

"Yes, sir," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied.

**A few minutes later**

"Heads up," Captain Wallace interrupted the brief silence as he came on the communication channel once more and Sarah listened intently.

"Command has just informed me of another active situation," Captain Wallace said, and he paused to allow the information to register with his soldiers.

"Fucking hell!" Chuck said aloud in complete shock. "These vile bastards aren't fucking messing around! Holy fuck!"

"There have just been around fifty 999 calls in the vicinity of Borough Market, Southwark, London. It's almost certainly another phase of their attack. Staff Sergeant MacDonald, I'm rerouting Red Team to the area to neutralise the threat. Liaise with your pilot," Captain Wallace said.

"Yes, sir," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied, and Sarah watched as her team leader stood, and he headed straight into the cockpit.

Sarah then glanced at Chuck and Bryce, and they both appeared to be presenting extreme anxiousness in their body language and expressions.

"What the fuck is going on, Chuck?" Sarah asked her seasoned teammate in an extremely concerned tone as she began to worry and fear for her fellow countrymen on the ground in London right now.

She then watched him shrug his shoulders in despondence before he said, "Beats me."

"Dozens of people are going to be killed!" Sarah fumed, and in a sudden fit of rage, she punched her first into the seat of the helicopter as anger began to build up inside of her knowing that her country was now under a sustained terrorist attack.

"Motherfuckers!" Bryce exclaimed on seeing Sarah's reaction, and Sarah watched as Bryce also followed suit and punched his fist into another part of the helicopter...

**A minute later**

The Staff Sergeant had now returned to his seat on the helicopter when Sarah heard Sergeant Cole Barker appear on their communications channel, "How are we getting down there, Staff Sergeant? Are we landing the birds?"

"No fucking chance! We can't risk the birds. We're rappelling. Start setting up your harnesses. ETA, ten minutes!" he declared.

**Two minutes later**

The soldiers aboard the four AW109 helicopters were continuing to psych themselves up as they prepared to enter into combat when Sarah heard her CO on the communications channel once more.

"I'm receiving information from Hereford that five armed X-rays are still in the vicinity of Borough Market. Armed police are responding."

"Save the bastards for us!" Bryce said with strong hostility attached to his tone.

"Calm down, Trooper. Keep your emotions in check, or it will cloud and impair your judgement," the extremely experienced Staff Sergeant MacDonald ordered.

**Two minutes later**

"Five minutes to location, fellas!" the pilot shouted to Sarah and the rest of her team.

"ETA, five minutes till overhead, sir," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said into the com channel.

"Affirmative. Good luck," Captain Wallace replied.

**Two minutes later**

Captain Wallace came on air once more. "Hereford have relayed that the five X-rays from Borough Market are involved in a heavy firefight with police. They've fled north in the direction of London Bridge. Numerous armed police units are on the scene, and they are setting up a cordon to lock them in place until we arrive."

"Affirmative," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.

"Staff?" Sarah called out suddenly to her team leader.

"Yes, Walker?" the SSgt retorted, and he glanced at her.

"I know this area. There's a junction just south of the bridge about two hundred metres. It's between Southwark Street and Borough High Street and is a perfect location to insert!" she suggested, and she watched as Chuck and Bryce started to ponder her suggestion whilst MacDonald began to study his GPS.

"Good shout, Walker!" Staff Sergeant MacDonald said on completing his actions, and he nodded his head approvingly at her before going on air on the team communications channel once more. "Cole, we're fast-roping two hundred metres south of the bridge at the junction between Southwark Street and Borough High Street, and we will advance north to confront X-rays. Apprise your pilot of the final location."

"Affirmative," Cole replied.

**One minute later**

It was now two minutes until Red Team was to arrive at their destination to confront and to neutralise the terrorist threat at this particular incident. Sarah and the rest of her team were now stood, and they were awaiting their helicopters to arrive in their Area of Operation.

Staff Sergeant MacDonald suddenly grabbed hold of both Sarah and Bryce, which caused both Sarah and Bryce to startle.

"Remember! Speed, Aggression, Surprise! Check your corners! Treat anyone on that fucking ground as a potential hostile! The fucking bastards are all over London tonight!" their team leader instructed and guided them, and Sarah nodded her head, and she watched as Bryce did the same.

Sarah then began to spend her final moments psyching herself up one final time as she double-checked that her harness was in place before she verified that all of her pouches were still secured and that all of her gear was locked in place, and she watched as her new teammates did the same thing. Feeling satisfied, she began to breathe in deeply as she counted down the remaining time until inserting into combat.

**Ninety seconds later**

The two AW109s carrying Red Team were now hovering over the target location, and the doors to the helicopters immediately opened, and Sarah began to insert down onto the streets of London to confront the terrorists that were rampaging throughout the area. And as she began to abseil down onto the street below, she could hear the bursts of sustained automatic gunfire occurring, and after just a few seconds, her entire team of eight were boots on the ground, and they immediately began to fan out in a parallel formation, and Sarah observed dozens of civilians running all around their vicinity. The streets of London were absolute mayhem right now as Sarah could hear rapid gunfire, dozens of emergency sirens all over and screams coming from just about every single direction of where the crack SAS team had just inserted...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Red Team on the ground. Advancing to London Bridge," Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated calmly into the communications channel as his team began to advance north to meet the gunfire head-on.

"Affirmative. Red Team on the ground and advancing to London Bridge," Captain Wallace responded as he continued to take control of the operation.

"BRITISH ARMY! KEEP YOUR FUCKING HANDS UP!" Trooper Thomas screamed in a hostile and warning tone at the unknown bodies continuing to run past the team from every direction as Sarah and the rest of her unit trained their sights on every single body that approached the team.

Sarah then continued to advance in formation with her team when she noted an unknown body began to run towards Chuck. "BACK THE FUCK AWAY! WE DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE!" she heard her teammate scream, as he took a step forward and she watched as her teammate lined up his rifle at the unidentified. She then observed as the unknown quickly did as he was instructed, and he immediately backtracked away from the terrifying soldier and promptly ran off to the side from where the team continued to advance up the street.

Sarah and her team continued to advance meter by meter when her CO came on air once more, "Police are actively exchanging fire with them on the bridge. They've cordoned off the north end of the bridge and have them sandwiched but have taken numerous casualties."

"We can hear it," Staff Sergeant MacDonald responded as they continued to advance.

"Fuck me! There are so many fucking angles and potential X-rays running right past us!" Sarah heard Bryce exclaim as Red Team now began to head under an underpass with train tracks above them and scores of civilians running all around them. Sarah and the rest of the team were feeling very concerned by how much movement was occurring all around them and they were trying to keep and maintain trigger discipline until they encountered the confirmed terrorists.

"BRITISH ARMY! KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" Cole Barker suddenly screamed out in the same tone as his comrade just earlier as the team continued to advance, and Sarah watched as every unidentified in the vicinity quickly followed the commands given to them by her teammate.

"Are we clearing the Market, Staff Sergeant?" Trooper Murray asked, and Sarah shot her glance to the left of them briefly, which was where the entrance to the market was. She could see numerous casualties laid out all over the ground near to the market which made her feel physically sick as those were her countrymen that had been killed by these butchers that her team were about to encounter and engage.

"No. The last reported contact of the terrorists was them at the bridge, so we're confronting the fuckers head-on, on that fucking bridge!" MacDonald retorted as the team continued to advance.

"There are casualties all around us," Sarah said into the communication channel in horror and dread.

"No time to stop for them, Trooper," Staff Sergeant MacDonald retorted back.

"I know," Sarah replied as she trained her sights onto anything that moved and she continued to advance in close formation. The bridge was now beginning to come in view for the team. Because Sarah was the furthest to the left, she would be the last one to have a full view of the bridge. Cole would be the first to see it as he was the furthest right, followed by Chuck, then Trooper Hughes, then Trooper Murray, then Staff Sergeant MacDonald, then Bryce, then Trooper Thomas and finally, Sarah. In her view ahead of her, Sarah could now see two marked BMW X5 police cars about sixty metres away, they were unattended, and they were the police cars that the Metropolitan Police were phasing into their Armed Response Vehicle units.

Sarah and the team continued to advance for a few more seconds as more and more of the bridge came into view for Sarah when suddenly, Cole came onto their communications channel, "THREE X-RAYS NINE O CLOCK! Cole barked out as he immediately discharged a burst from his long barrel C8 carbine quickly followed by Chuck engaging the same target who was also armed with the same rifle as his teammate.

The crack unit immediately clicked and shifted into immediate action as they began to dash forward now in a sprint to take up positions and to engage with the enemy.

"Red Team contact! London Bridge! Three X-rays at the southernmost entrance to the bridge in position behind numerous vehicles!" Staff Sergeant MacDonald shouted into comms as he let off a burst from his rifle in the vicinity of the target.

"Affirmative," Captain Wallace responded, and he proceeded to relay on the information to Hereford who in turn were liaising with the Metropolitan Police over the SAS's current movements and positions to avoid a friendly fire incident.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Staff Sergeant MacDonald screamed as the elite SAS operators all continued to sprint forward to take up positions wherever they could find them as half of the team began to rain down fire onto the location of two cars at the westernmost side of the southern entrance of the bridge.

Sarah had now come to the end of her sprint, and she had taken up position behind a red double-decker bus. Sarah was peeking out from the left side of the position, and she couldn't see anything in her line of view whilst Staff Sergeant MacDonald had taken up position the opposite side of her and he was peeking out from behind the bus on the right side.

"One X-ray down!" Sarah suddenly heard Chuck shout into comms and she darted back into cover once more to glance over to where Chuck and Cole were both positioned behind a Ford Focus GHIA. She observed as Chuck and Cole were exchanging heavy rapid-fire in the direction of the target she had no line of sight on.

"Fuck! I need a better vantage!" Sarah cursed to herself as she so desperately wanted to help her teammates that she could see engaging with the terrorists. She then instantly broke cover, and she dashed to her left to take up position behind an abandoned Audi A4.

"One X-ray down!" Cole shouted into comms, and Sarah took this as her cue to break cover, and she trained her sights onto the location of the contact once more. This vantage was better, and in her sights, she could see a figure holding a rifle. Sarah immediately adjusted herself, and she lined up the shot before firing a single shot at her target, and she watched as her round connected onto the target, and he dropped to the floor behind the vehicle.

"One X-ray down!" she shouted immediately, but she didn't even get chance to think as her team leader was on comms once more.

"ADVANCE!" he commanded as the crack SAS team broke cover and they began to dash forward towards the location of where they had just engaged the terrorists to make sure that they were neutralised and no further threat to the team or to the members of the public.

And as Sarah continued to advance and sprint ahead, she could see bodies everywhere, and she had now arrived in the immediate vicinity of a BMW X5 armed police car and her gaze connected onto two now-deceased armed officers. She had no time to mourn her countrymen, and she continued on past the vehicle. Sarah watched on as Staff Sergeant MacDonald and Bryce were the first to arrive at the position of the three terrorists, and she watched as they lit up the three bodies as they discharged a large number of rounds onto the targets...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"One of them was still alive," Bryce stated on the full team now linking up together again.

"Good riddance," Trooper Murray replied as he began to survey the situation around him, and he saw numerous fatalities just like Sarah had.

"Two X-rays still unaccounted for," Captain Wallace said into comms.

"What are we doing, Staff? Are we advancing onto the bridge to hunt them out?" Cole asked.

"I'm worried about being flanked or stabbed in the back. I'll fortify and secure this location with Jamie, Dan and John. You take Chuck, Bryce and Sarah and advance onto the bridge and root out those two X-rays on the bridge."

"Affirmative," Cole responded. "Let's move!"

On being given the instruction, Sarah immediately departed from the position that she had been in near to the armed police car and she instantly advanced as Sarah, Chuck, Bryce and Cole tightened up their formation until they were just a few yards apart.

And as the small team of four continued to advance, the small squad noted dozens upon dozens of deserted cars all over the bridge. Sarah's brain and mind were working a million overtimes into one as she scanned every angle for anything she didn't like when suddenly, a figure appeared in view, and he was holding something in his hands. Sarah instantly trained her sights onto him, but she didn't get chance to fire as Chuck too had, had the X-ray in his sights, and Sarah watched on as a burst from Chuck connected onto the X-ray, and the body slumped to fall backwards, and it disappeared from out of sight behind a car once more.

"X-ray down! Continuing to advance!" Chuck called out into comms.

"Affirmative. X-ray down. Continuing advance," Captain Wallace responded.

Sarah and her small team continued advancing on the bridge, and she watched as Cole and Chuck each fired further rounds into the X-ray that Chuck had neutralised and they continued on in the hunt of the final X-ray until they were now more than halfway across the bridge. Sarah could now see the northern end of the bridge where five police cars were parked up, and armed police were cordoning that end of the bridge off.

And as Sarah and the team continued to advance, civilians were exiting cars, busses, vans and numerous automobiles on the bridge. Sarah could see people hidden under cars and climbing out from under them and herself, along with her three teammates, were treating every single body on the bridge as a potential fifth X-ray. It was incredibly hard for them to crowd control right now because of how many people were appearing.

They continued to advance in close formation for a second or two more until Cole raised his hand into the air and gave the signal to stop.

"The fifth X-ray isn't going to be any further north. If there is still a fifth terrorist active, we've gone past them, and they're hiding and blending in somewhere on the bridge," Cole declared.

"Agreed," Chuck replied, and Sarah nodded her head along with Bryce.

"Let's head back south and see if we can root them out if they're still alive. We're going to have to vet everyone on this fucking bridge probably," Cole said anxiously, with the implications of his words now evident on the battle-hardened SAS operator's face.

"We're heading back south, Chris. One potential X-ray outstanding. Could be blending in on the bridge or we've gone past them in the market," Chuck informed the Staff Sergeant.

"Affirmative. We now have a dozen armed police at the southern end of the bridge. I will have them keep a cordon, and we'll advance north slowly and vet anyone we see and meet you halfway," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.

"Copy that," Chuck responded.

Sarah and her small team then immediately began to double back, and they immediately began to train their sights onto every unidentified civilian who was suddenly appearing in great number. The civilians were likely thinking that the area was now safe for them to flee on them encountering the crack special forces team.

"EVERYONE STOP MOVING! DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE!" Cole screamed to around twenty people moving all around the team as Sarah, and the rest of her team suddenly became very anxious.

"We need to check and clear this group one by one and place them in a secure spot," Cole paused as his glance connected onto one section of the bridge. "We'll place them over there," he said as he pointed at the westernmost side of the bridge on the pedestrian sidewalk.

Sarah, Chuck and Bryce nodded their head as they immediately followed their teammate's instructions.

"British Army! Don't you move!" Sarah commanded as she trained her sights onto the first person she was going to vet. He was a middle-aged European man.

"Ok!" he responded in a London accent, and she could tell by his body language, and by his tone used that he was petrified. Continuing to train her sights onto him, she continued to relay her commands of what she expected from him, "Open your coat and shirt, but slowly!" she commanded, and she watched as he nodded. He then slowly lowered his arms, and he began to open his coat quickly followed by his shirt, and he appeared to be clean. Sarah then walked up to him, and she patted him for weapons whilst her teammates were doing the same thing to other civilians in the small team's vicinity.

With that particular civilian she had vetted now being clear, she commanded, "Stand over there! And don't move!" as she pointed to the agreed secure location.

"Yes, ok! Thank you for helping us! Oh my god, I thought we were all going to die!" he said in a deeply elated and thankful tone.

But Sarah ignored his words entirely, and they didn't even register with her as her gaze had already shifted to the next person needing to be vetted and scrutinised.

"British Army! I need to vet you for weapons!" Sarah commanded as she trained her sights onto another middle-aged man.

"Yes, of course!" the man replied in a terrified frame of mind as his arms continued to remain raised in the air.

"Open your jacket!" Sarah commanded as she continued to line up the man in her sights with her finger on the trigger waiting for one wrong move from the man in her sights.

The man did as he was instructed, and he opened up his jacket. Sarah then inspected all around the man's frame for explosives or weapons.

"Now your shirt!" she commanded as she continued to train her sights onto her present target.

The man once more did as he was instructed and only then did Sarah feel safe enough to move into his vicinity, and she began to pat down his legs in search of a weapon.

With the civilian now being vetted and clear, she nodded whilst saying, "over there!"

The man quickly did as he was instructed, and he quickly moved into the direction of where Sarah had commanded him, which was the location where everybody had been scrutinised by the team so far.

Sarah's next objective was a young boy, and he looked terrified. He had his hands in the air, and Sarah's heart immediately sunk at the sight in front of her eyes. She watched him lift his shirt, and as he did, she felt ready to burst into tears, and she could have if she wasn't so focused on protecting everybody on this bridge and her teammates who were relying on her to remain composed and vigilant.

So instead of crying her eyes out in the middle of a battle, she replied, "thank you," in a soothing voice as she nodded her head and said, "over there," and as she did so, she watched her teammate Bryce commanding a young middle eastern adult female briefly. She then heard him say over there and she watched as he nodded his head to where the vetted civilians had been placed. Her teammate hadn't even asked the female in question to open up her coat to check her for explosives that she and her team had already found on the terrorists, and by now, Sarah's alarm bells were ringing as something just doesn't feel right with that woman Bryce had just cleared. Sarah couldn't explain why, but something just felt so incredibly wrong with that woman. Sarah could just feel and sense some kind of hatred in her eye on noting the way that the woman had looked at her teammate. Sarah's focus immediately became razor-sharp on the middle eastern woman as she began walking away from her team and towards the vetted group of civilians and by now, Sarah was sure beyond all doubt that that woman may have had something to do with the attack.

"YOU! IN THE BLACK COAT! STOP!" Sarah commanded as she trained her sights onto the spine of the woman she had just commanded to stop.

"TURN AROUND!" she commanded, but the woman ignored her request.

"I SAID TURN AROUND OR SO HELP ME I'LL PUT ONE THROUGH YOU RIGHT WHERE YOU STAND!" Sarah commanded once more. And by now, her entire team were now also training their sights on the woman their teammate Bryce had just let pass...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

A few seconds passed, and Sarah was becoming very nervous when slowly, the woman in question began to turn around. The woman was a few metres away from Sarah, Bryce, Chuck and Cole and also a few metres away from the vetted civilians over on the sidewalk in safety.

On turning to face Sarah, Sarah noted the woman was looking extremely nervous by her body language and facial expressions. Sarah now had her sights trained onto the mouth of the woman instead. This readjustment was special forces standard operating procedure. During Sarah's selection, her training had taught her that if she double-tapped an X-ray through the mouth then if the X-ray was holding onto any kind of device or weapon, a shot to that location would stop any message from being sent to the hand of the X-ray. The middle eastern woman's hands were down against her sides when suddenly, she began to raise her hand into the air, and she started to mutter something in Arabic, and Sarah could instantly see it. She was holding a wire connected to a red trigger in her hand!

"ARMED!" Cole and Chuck suddenly screamed as they too had noticed the trigger and the wire leading up her arm that the female was holding and Sarah didn't even hesitate as she immediately fired off a burst from her MP5 into the mouth of the female X-ray quickly followed by the rest of her team discharging their weapons as they lit up the neck and facial area to be one hundred percent sure that the target was neutralised and no further threat.

The team of four quickly surrounded the neutralised target whilst Staff Sergeant MacDonald, and his four-man team had now joined up with Sarah's team. His troopers immediately started screaming, "GET BACK, GET BACK!" to all of the civilians on the bridge as they furiously ushered them with their hands to put some distance from the deceased suicide bomber in case the device exploded…

**End of Chapter**

**AN3** Next Chapter: The aftermath of the devastating terrorist attack in Central London. I think it's safe to say that Bryce is in for one almighty rollicking at the VERY least, wouldn't you?

What did you all think of Sarah's sixth sense? It turned out to be correct, didn't it?

I wonder how Sarah will deal and cope with taking at least one and quite possibly even two lives when she had engaged one of the terrorists that were hidden behind the vehicle and exchanging fire with her team. Regardless, even if it was just the female suicide bomber she had killed, then I would imagine that that will play on her mind too! Find out, Next Chapter!

Please review. If you haven't read Chapter 2 yet then I would also appreciate reviews for that as I didn't get very many reviews or even views last chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN1** Greetings. I can't seem to obtain a readership for this story. I'm not sure what to do. I'm really enjoying the story, and if I'm honest then I am probably enjoying it more than any of my others, and I really want to write it for myself, but I'm almost writing in silence as I can't seem to draw many Chucksters in. I may decide just to bump the rating up to mature in anticipation for when Charah intimacy occurs because when it does happen, it _will_ be explosive. I'm not going to abandon this project because of a lack of readers, no chance! But I may go all out and fully write for myself in an M rated environment. I'll give the fiction another two or three opportunities at T rated and see if I can get more people on board with me.

**AN2** Following on from my above comment, there _will_ be Charah in this fiction. But it's going to be a slow burn. Two special forces soldiers can't just go around flirting and only interacting with each other and ignoring their job and their responsibilities to instead flirt and become personally interested in each other in the middle of the most demanding and most intense job in the world! It's their job and responsibility to remain professional. They owe it to their teammates and the civilians that they must protect. If and only if Charah are off duty, then can they begin to get to know each other on a personal level, which is what happens kind of this chapter and definitely next chapter. As it is the first time so far in the story that Charah will not be on a mission or training. Sarah also made it clear in Chapter Two that she doesn't screw the guys she works with. And more of her mindset concerning this will become much more apparent as the story progresses. There's also something concerning Chuck that you'll find out next chapter.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Four**

* * *

_This is BBC Radio One coming to you live from London in where the city and the country are now in a day of mourning after the devastating terrorist attack that occurred in the capital less than twelve hours ago. The attack has left many dozens dead, and hundreds injured as the terrorist attack ended in spectacular fashion as British Special Forces shot dead five armed terrorists on London Bridge, whilst a second crack SAS team had simultaneously stormed a secondary location at the music concert in Hackney and shot dead all three terrorists in that location in seconds in a clean and aggressive operation to bring about an end to the situation. And in the last few moments, the Prime Minister has just made a statement outside 10 Downing Street and has praised the actions and the resolve of both the Metropolitan Police who had earlier stormed the Westfield London shopping centre, and the SAS in bringing all three situations to a conclusion. We will have much more, and we will be running live with this story throughout the entire day…_

Chuck moved his hand to turn off the radio inside one of the transport vehicles that the team were using to return Mobility troop back to their base in Hereford after a successful operation. To Chuck and to the rest of his teammates, it didn't feel like a successful operation, though. The brutal and cowardly attacks on unarmed civilians have left dozens of his countrymen dead. And right now, Chuck felt like puking his guts out. If he weren't so seasoned, then he likely would, as he did the first few times of him taking a life in the army. After the AW109s had dropped off Mobility troop last night, they immediately returned to Hereford in preparation to transport Mountain troop to any further situations that may have arisen. Thankfully, if you could call it that, no further attacks occurred after the attack that Chuck and his team had confronted when they shot dead the terrorists on London Bridge. Several police vehicles quickly arrived for the SAS to use at their disposal to transport them around London to any further attack that may have occurred. Chuck and his team had remained mobile throughout the capital for the entire night in the hunt for any additional terrorist attack, and only within the past hour had they been stood down from immediate action after almost twelve long hours. After being stood down, command back at Hereford subsequently ordered Chuck and the rest of his team to return to Hereford. And, in addition, Hereford had also recalled Air and Boat troops of G Squadron back from their training exercises. Captain Wallace had also apprised Chuck and the rest of the team that the Regimental CO of 22 SAS was even contemplating calling in another squadron entirely that was presently conducting training exercises in preparation for its upcoming deployment to Iraq.

Now in silence with Sarah, Cole and Dan in the car, Chuck continued driving one of the transport vehicles provided, and he glances at Sarah next to him briefly. Chuck was immensely proud of how Sarah handled herself throughout the night. Sarah had quite possibly saved several dozen lives in spotting the female suicide bomber that Bryce had let pass after having believed her sad, soppy story of not being able to find her child. As soon as they were back on base, Chuck and his team would be having some strong words with him, that's for sure. And who knows what his Commanding Officers may do. Chuck would not be at all surprised if his Commanding Officers outright returned Bryce to his unit. Chuck was certain that the only reason his teammate didn't properly vet and scrutinise that terrorist is because she was an attractive female not wearing a hijab, and she probably gave him a seductive smile. His other new teammate seemed to be that kind of guy. Bryce Larkin appeared to be very flashy and confident of himself, and he seemed to be the type of guy that threw himself at any female wanting to open her legs to him. Chuck had seen many assholes like that during his eight years in the army, that's for sure.

"Stop the car," Sarah commanded suddenly, and Chuck turned to glance at his teammate sat next to him in the front seat to query her outburst and the break of the brief silence.

"Chuck, stop the car! I'm going to be sick!" she commanded more powerfully, and Chuck immediately smirked and thankfully for Sarah, there was a service station nearby, so he turned off from the motorway, and he pulled the unmarked police SUV to a halt.

Chuck then watched as his new teammate yanked the front passenger door open, and he watched as Sarah began to puke her guts out. The actions of his new comrade were exactly the same as he and so many before him had done after a substantial firefight and intensive operation for his first year in the Regiment.

He adjusted himself to turn and look behind him briefly, as Cole and Big Dan were both in the back of the SUV, and they were both chuckling approvingly.

"It's delayed shock and adrenalin, Sarah. It's quite normal and completely fine. We've been on intensive operations all night," Chuck said in an attempt at reassurance to help ease his troubled teammate.

"Yeah, you'll be fine. A couple of pints and a nice juicy steak later on will sort you out," Big Dan joked, and his chosen words immediately caused Sarah to vomit once more. On Sarah vomiting again, Cole and Dan began to laugh sadistically, and Chuck started to shake his head with a slight smirk as he sighed at his friends' humour towards their new teammate.

"Thanks for that!" Sarah stated sarcastically from where she was hanging out of the vehicle.

"I'm just trying to help. It's better out than in," Big Dan joked causing Cole and Chuck to laugh as Chuck continued to shake his head.

Chuck then waited patiently until Sarah returned to sit inside the vehicle.

"All better?" he asked her with a smile.

"Better," she replied unconvincingly with a nod of her head.

"Jamie Hughes and John Murray still get it occasionally," Cole declared, and Chuck nodded his head.

"What about you?" Sarah asked as she glanced at Chuck and then at her other two teammates behind them.

Chuck smiled at Sarah before responding, "For the first year I did. But I haven't for a while now. After what we witnessed firsthand on the ground throughout the night and everything we heard prior, I feel like I could throw my guts up right now. But I'm too seasoned for that to happen any more."

Cole quickly interjected. "Same here. It's hard to block out everything you see in mass casualty situations like that. But there's nothing we can do about it. We went in there, got the job done and sent the bastards to hell,"

"I felt so helpless seeing all those bodies as we advanced to confront the terrorists," Sarah admitted, as she rotated her glance between her three teammates in the vehicle.

"Sarah, you weren't helpless. You took out one, quite possibly two of the fuckers. You saved many lives," Chuck said in his continued attempt at reassurance, and he began to fill up with pride to have Sarah as his new teammate. Once they got back on base, Chuck was sure that nobody on their base would forget what Sarah had done on that operation for quite some time and if they do, then they would answer to him because Chuck would now have Sarah's back and he was one thousand percent certain that his other teammates would now do the same. Sarah was a hero last night.

"Yeah. I'm fucking proud to have you on my team," Big Dan said endearingly, and Chuck nodded his head as the four teammates continued to engage in friendly conversation.

"I fully concur with what my two mates have just said. You were outstanding all night, and you should be proud of yourself," Cole said, and Chuck and Dan nodded their heads.

"Thanks, but I don't feel proud right now. Is it always this bad?" Sarah asked as she glanced at her three teammates.

Chuck shook his head no before softly responding, "It gets easier in time..."

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

Mobility troop were now inside of the situation room on their base, and they were being debriefed after their operation in London by their troop leader Captain Wallace and the Regimental CO, Colonel Wood. Blue Team had just finished the debriefing of their successful operation in which they breached into the music venue in Hackney and shot dead three terrorists to rescue several hundred people that had been held hostage at the venue. It was now Red Team's turn for their debriefing.

"Outstanding job gentlemen and lady," Colonel Wood joked which caused laughter in the entire situation room, and Chuck glanced at Sarah, and he watched her also begin to laugh at the CO's humour.

"I can't say just gentlemen any more, but by god, I couldn't be any prouder. If other females are as good as you, Sarah, then I hope many more apply for selection!"

"Hear, hear!" Chuck said as he led the praise for his new teammate and the situation room suddenly became loud as the rest of the troop voiced their agreement. He then looked all around the large gathering in the situation room, and the entire room had a look of respect for the actions of their comrade during the terrorist attack. Chuck then watched Sarah nod her head at the CO, and he noted as she appeared to be very tired and quite distressed almost as if something was eating at her. He made an instant mental note to check on his new teammate's mental wellbeing at some point today.

The CO continued, "Both the coroner and the metropolitan police are happy with the reasonable force used to subjugate the terrorist threat, and you will not be needed for any questioning as there won't be any kind of investigation," he paused to allow the information to register with the soldiers. "I have decided to remove Mobility troop from immediate standby for the next three days to allow you to recover from the operation. Both air and boat troops have been placed on immediate standby alongside mountain troop and will remain as such until we know what we are dealing with."

"Just what are we dealing with, sir?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked as Chuck, and the rest of the troop nodded their head in agreement with the SSgt's question.

"It's looking from initial investigations that the group were an Al-Qaeda cell. I would be surprised if we have the whole cell. Usually, the bomb maker is left behind, and we'll be very much hunting out that gentleman in the coming days to have a nice little chat with him," the CO said which earnt him a lot of "Too right" remarks including from Chuck himself.

"Well, it's been a long night, and I have no desire to talk for thirty minutes blabbering away nonsense to you all so go and get yourselves some rest and what a damn fine job you did out in the capital. Dismissed," the CO finished.

With the debriefing now being over, there was instant activity all around the room, and Chuck immediately began to stand up from his seat, and his team started to gather when the Regimental CO spoke once more, "Trooper Larkin, remain behind if you will," the Colonel demanded.

On hearing the name of Bryce who could have gotten his team and numerous civilians killed, the entire room froze in place, including Blue Team as they all began to glance at their teammate. Bryce was undoubtedly the least popular person in the situation room right now as he was getting evil daggers and disapproving glances from the entire troop.

"Let's get out of here," Trooper Hughes suddenly declared, and Chuck shifted his gaze along with the rest of his team away from Bryce and onto Jamie Hughes instead.

"We have a date with the canteen. I'm starving," Trooper John Murray stated.

Chuck laughed as he moved to put his arm around his best friend Cole and the team departed to the canteen together.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Sarah had just arrived at the cafeteria on her base with the rest of her team, though she didn't want to be here right now. Right now, she much felt like being alone in her own company after a gruelling mission and everything she had seen, heard and done on the ground in London throughout the night. It was unquestionably the most intense mission that Sarah had ever been on in her five years of being in the army and those included combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. On entering the canteen, she glanced around the room, and it was jam-packed full of soldiers with most of G Squadron now being present after being recalled from their training exercises.

Sarah began to queue in wait when numerous soldiers from her whole squadron including many she had not met before all took the time to come up to her to offer her praise and approval for her actions in the capital last night. If Sarah wasn't so tired and distressed, she would have happily engaged in conversation. But right now, she just wanted to be away from the limelight and to be back in her quarters to get her head around everything that had happened during the past twenty-four hours.

On collecting her food and sitting down on one of the benches with the rest of her team, they engaged in small talk whilst Sarah continued to watch the TV once more. "We have some breaking news to bring to you right now. In the last few moments, the Home Office has raised the UK threat level from Severe, its second-highest level to Critical, which is the highest level possible. For the watchers that aren't aware, the upgrading of the threat level by the Home Office means that another terrorist attack could happen imminently. Consequently, the British government has announced that they have now drafted maximum security measures into place. The Home Secretary has requested the immediate deployment of more than 6,000 soldiers to reinforce key sites in the United Kingdom, and the Defence Secretary has approved the deployment. We will bring you more news about this major development just as soon as we get it..."

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Sarah had just entered the barracks housing G Squadron after eating together with her team in the canteen, not that Sarah had done much eating, as she felt physically ill. They did not force you to live on base in the SAS, and you could rent or purchase your own home within the immediate area of Hereford. Sarah planned to rent a home, but because it was just her first week, she hadn't found any time to house hunt as she had been so incredibly busy and tired with all of the training she had undergone throughout the week. Sarah planned to do some searching for somewhere to live off base in the upcoming three days that she had off before reporting back for duties once more. For the moment, Sarah's personal possessions were being looked after by her mother, Emma, and her sister, Molly.

Walking up to Room Four inside the barracks, which had her name on the door, she then entered inside the small room. It contained a wardrobe to stow her gear, a bed and two cabinets. Sarah immediately placed her helmet, her respirator and her MP5 into the wardrobe before she moved to sit on the mattress, and as she did so, she began to breathe out a long deep sigh. Sarah felt both physically and mentally ill right now, as the operation that she had just been part of hours earlier began to replay itself once more in vivid detail starting in the situation room and finishing on London Bridge.

Raising her hands to meet her face, Sarah placed her hands onto her head to cover her eyes, nose and mouth and she closed her eyes as she began to rub her hands up and down and she began to sigh into her hands.

Sarah stayed like this for a long moment, as she tried to overcome all of her thoughts racing throughout her mind and she started to experience palpitations, and she felt a rush of heat, and her skin began to feel sticky and sweaty as her mind continued to replay the female terrorist that she had killed at close range. Sarah could also see all of the casualties and fatalities all around the market that her team had walked past and left. As a combat medic, it was formerly her job to help people. But she was just one person, and she felt so helpless that so many were laying injured and dying all over the pavement and road, and she couldn't do a damned thing to help them. Even if she did help, she was just one person, and there were dozens of casualties. What stood out most from last night's events to Sarah was those two armed police officers she encountered close to their vehicle. They were both heavily armed, and the terrorists overpowered even those, so all those poor unarmed civilians were so powerless and helpless, and right at this moment, she wanted to cry deeply for every single person that had lost their lives in the terrible and dastardly attack.

Sarah was disturbed from her thoughts as she began to hear a knock on her door. She moved her hands onto her cheeks instead, and she opened her eyes as she glanced up, and her eyes connected onto her teammate Chuck now standing inside the doorway of her on-base accommodation.

"Are you ok?" he asked softly, and she began to gaze at her teammate in a complete world of her own as the last day continued to replay in her mind over and over and over...

"I don't know. I don't know how I'm feeling, Chuck," she admitted to him as she gazed distantly at him.

She watched him smile sympathetically at her before he asked, "Can I sit down?"

She nodded before responding, "Sure."

She then watched him as he moved to sit next to her on the bed in her quarters.

"This is all new to me. I don't know how to deal with it," Sarah admitted to him after a brief moment of the two teammates sitting in silence inside her quarters.

"Sarah, I can be an excellent listener. You can talk to me and get it off your chest. Is it the woman you killed?" he asked as he gazed at her with a comforting smile.

Sarah began to ponder his question to her for a brief moment before she shrugged her shoulders, and she replied, "I'm not sure. Maybe."

"On your first day when I picked you up at the gate, you told me you'd not killed before. It was her or us or more civilians, Sarah," he said as held his comforting smile toward her.

She nodded. "I know. And I don't regret doing it. But how do you live with it?" she asked as she continued to gaze at Chuck with a distant stare.

"It gets easier. Sarah, after my first, I cried, and I threw up. Life in the military is everything I have ever wanted. The ancestry of my family in the British Army dates back hundreds of years, and I'm proud to serve, and it's never easy taking a life, but it's them or us. That's just the reality of it all," he said softly.

"Where was your first?" she asked him as she continued her gaze at her friendly teammate.

"Iraq. I was on patrol in the Grenadier Guards, and we ran into a contact with insurgents. It was a heated exchange, and I killed two insurgents. Just like you, I don't regret doing it, because it was them or me. I think if anybody enjoys killing, then they are psychotic but the people that the government send us to fight really do want to kill us, and it's up to us to show them that same aggression in return. But because we aren't monsters and they are, it haunts us the second we get off mission."

"What about all those innocent people, Chuck? How do you come to terms with seeing all of that carnage, bloodbath and mayhem that we saw last night?" she asked as she continued to gaze at her new teammate.

"Sarah, we can't do anything to change that. We can't take that burden onto ourselves. We can only deploy when given the order. The deaths of civilians fall onto the politicians. It's just war, and it sucks..." he paused to smile sympathetically at her, and for the first time since he arrived, she gave him a faint smile back. "Once we deployed, we quickly engaged and killed the enemy. Do I wish we didn't see the things that we do see on operations? Yes. But do I wish I wasn't there so that we didn't have to see what we saw? No, I don't. Because without us being on that bridge to help, many more would have died. So seeing all of the carnage we saw together last night was the price that we pay to save lives. It would be the same, even in the police or paramedics. They feel the exact same way that you are right now. You feel helpless, but you aren't. Because without us being there, more would have died. You should be proud of what you did last night and this morning," he finished with a confident but reassuring tone.

Sarah began to breathe out a deep sigh, and she let her teammate's words sink in with her.

"You know, a good way to get over it is to go out and get rotten drunk," he said with a grin.

"I'm not sure I feel like it," she admitted in a depressive tone.

"Sarah, come on. The lads are all going, and they'll take offence if you don't come," he asked pleadingly.

"I need to sleep for a week," she responded dismissively in an attempt to get out of the invitation.

"Sarah, so do I, but they're your teammates. You were only saying the other day that you didn't feel wanted and valued and speak of the devil, here they are," Chuck said, and Sarah watched on as Staff Sergeant Chris MacDonald, Trooper Jamie Hughes, Trooper John Murray, Trooper Daniel Thomas and Sergeant Cole Barker all entered into view inside of her quarters.

"Oy, oy! What are you two love birds talking about then?" Dan joked which earnt him an approving laugh from the newly arrived team except for Chuck and Sarah.

"Piss off, Dan!" Chuck said with distaste, and he gave him a distasteful look before he continued, "I was just telling Sarah about our plans for tonight. But she's hesitant to come, and she is trying her best to get out of it."

"We don't take no for an answer, Trooper," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said, and Sarah watched as her entire team moved deeper into her quarters. They then began to surround her and to take up positions by sitting on her bed or on her cabinets and wherever they could find a spot to sit. "Stow away your gear. Clean yourself up and change into some civvies and then let's hit the town. I can give it to you in the form of an order if you want, Trooper?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald said, and Sarah smiled in resignation, causing her entire team to look approvingly and expectantly at her.

"Well, when you put it like that, Staff, then how can I refuse?" she said in resignation, and she watched her entire team turn joyful, and most of them except the Staff Sergeant started to pat her approvingly from where they were seated.

"It's Chris to my friends," the Staff Sergeant said warmly before continuing, "and the first one is on me for an outstanding job. Seriously, I'm fucking proud to be on the same team as all of you in this room."

"Wow, the Staff must be impressed. It's not often he does that," Trooper John Murray joked causing the whole team to start laughing in camaraderie.

"Cheeky bastard!" the Staff retorted as he got Trooper Murray into a friendly endearing headlock…

**End of Chapter**

**AN3 **Next Chapter: The team go out on their first of many heavy drinking sessions! Because that's what soldiers love to do! And Sarah gets to know the team on a personal level. Plus some one to one Chuck and Sarah conversations!

**AN4** I haven't decided what to do with Bryce as a character yet. He's not a core character. He's definitely a minor.

**AN5** I will make another plea for reviews. I can't stress enough how much I love to share Chuck stories with interactive readers. I _love_ to hear your thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN1 **You can tell I love writing a story when you get daily 24-hour updates to it! I'm still not getting many reviews for this story, though. Which really is deflating.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Sarah was presently inside of a pub in Hereford with six of her new teammates from Red Team. Only Bryce was the missing member from their team tonight on their first official off duty gathering as a team. Her chosen drink was a Steamboat cocktail, which was a mixture of Southern Comfort, Lemonade and Lime. Sarah wasn't really a beer drinker. She wasn't behaving awkwardly and the odd one out towards her teammates, it was just that beer didn't really agree with her and it usually caused her to get stomach cramps whenever she would drink it. The rest of her team, however, did all have beers, but they are also all guys, so... The arsenal of beer for the team was ranging from Guinness to Stella to Fosters and finally, Carling.

And true to his word, Staff Sergeant Chris MacDonald had purchased the first round, and the entire team were all stood side by side at the bar together after having just received their drinks.

"Cheers," Staff Sergeant Chris MacDonald said as he raised his pint of Guinness into the air and he glanced to the left and right of him at each member of his team.

"Cheers," Sarah responded along with the rest of her team as the group of seven began to engage in numerous conversations with each other. Sarah's present conversation partner was Trooper Daniel Thomas, or as the rest of her teammates called him, Big Dan.

"You sure scrub up well, Sarah," he paused to nod approvingly before adding a further comment, "Don't worry. I'm happily married. I'm just being friendly."

Sarah smiled at her new teammate for his compliment before responding, "Thank you. What about the rest of the guys?" she inquired.

"Chris is married. It's not a happy marriage, though. He'll tell you that himself," Dan paused, and Sarah watched on as Big Dan glanced to the left of her "Oi, Chris!" he paused, until the SSgt looked at him, "Sarah was asking about your marriage."

On hearing her teammate's words, Sarah shifted her glance to the left of her to meet her gaze onto the Staff Sergeant, and she watched as he breathed out a deep sigh and he shook his head.

"My marriage is hell. There is only one reason we're still together, and it's because of our two kids. It ended a long time ago, and my wife will probably turf me out soon."

Sarah smiled, sympathetically at her team leader.

"He's been saying that for the past two years," John Murray joked earning laughter from the small team.

"And what about you, Sarah? Is there a Mr Walker?" the Staff Sergeant asked, and Sarah laughed a suppressed laugh as she shook her head whilst looking around all of her team who were gazing at her.

"Nope. I'm single, actually," she informed her team, and she watched in amusement as her entire team shook their heads in disbelief at what they had just heard.

"No way!" Cole said in complete amazement.

Sarah laughed. "Yep. I guess I have always put my career before my private life ever since I joined the army," she admitted with a faint smile.

"Wow!" Jamie Hughes said in complete amazement, and Sarah glanced around her teammates who were looking at her in shock like she had four heads.

"Now that I have told you all about my private life, what about the rest of you?" Sarah asked as she shifted her glance between Chuck, Cole, Jamie and John, and she smiled at them.

"Cole is engaged to be married to a lovely English lass. We've all been fighting over who's to be the best man," Jamie Hughes joked which earnt approving laughter from the team once more.

"Yes, we are fighting over that responsibility. Jamie and John are both single. And I have a long term girlfriend that doesn't want me in the army, and she is always down my throat trying to get me to leave it when I have no intention to do so," Chuck joked tongue-in-cheek

Sarah's gaze immediately shifted away from Chuck and her gaze sunk down at the bar briefly as she began to get slightly fidgety, and she played with her arm, and she puffed out a small sigh under her breath.

_I don't screw the guys I work with anyway. Pull yourself together, Sarah._

"What will happen to Bryce?" Sarah asked in a change of topic, and she watched as some of her team began to tense up.

"It's fifty-fifty. They will either return Bryce to his unit, or he'll stay on the team. Personally, I'm not too comfortable with him staying on the team, and I would prefer he be RTU'd, but it's not up to me," Chuck said, and Sarah watched most of the team nod their heads.

"I feel terrible now that I may have ruined his career," Sarah admitted as she moped her head down once more.

"Sarah, don't feel bad about it. He's brought it on himself," Jamie Hughes said reassuringly.

"You were spot on last night, Sarah, and we all know it. If he had done his job properly, he wouldn't now be in the mess that he's in. It's his fault, not yours," Staff Sergeant MacDonald chimed in accompanied with a nod of his head at Sarah.

"Too right!" John Murray said in complete agreement, and Sarah watched as all of her teammates' nodded, and they gazed warmly at her.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah was still at the pub with her team, and they were now seated in a corner of the pub together, laughing and joking away. Chuck was completely right in his suggestion to her earlier, as this had definitely helped to ease her distress that she was experiencing back on base after returning from their mission.

"So, what was your life before the army, Sarah?" Chuck asked her from where he was seated facing her.

Sarah smiled at Chuck, and she looked around where she was sitting briefly at her teammates who were glancing at her before responding, "I have always loved running. I am or was a very successful amateur runner. I thought about turning professional for quite a while."

"No way!" Jamie Hughes and John Murray replied whilst Cole said, "No kidding, huh?"

Sarah nodded at Cole, and she glanced around her teammates, and she smiled at them once more.

"So that's where you got your endurance from," Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated.

"Yeah," she replied while smiling her team leader.

"You should have turned professional, Sarah. That would have been so cool," Chuck said, and she smiled at him.

"What about all of you?" Sarah then asked as she glanced around her teammates once more.

"It was always the army for me," John Murray responded with a smile.

"Same here," Big Dan said.

"Same," Jamie Hughes also stated.

"I always fancied myself as a model," the Staff Sergeant joked with a wink which earnt him roaring laughter from Sarah and the rest of her teammates for a good twenty seconds.

"I'd pay good money to see you in a bikini, Chris," Cole joked, causing the laughter to extend for another prolonged period.

On the laughter quietening down once more, she gazed at Chuck opposite her, and she asked, "What about you, Chuck?"

"The brains of the team. Chuck is probably the smartest guy in the Regiment and quite possibly, the entire army. None of us can understand why he skipped university and becoming a billionaire to sign up as a squaddie instead," Cole said as he affectionately put his best friend under his arm.

Sarah smiled at her new teammate's words about her other new teammate in addition to the warm glances from the rest of her team.

"It's kind of like a scale. On one end of the scale, I had the full weight of my dad and granddad screaming down my ear about how good and great the military is. But on the other side of the scale, I had my mum and sister screaming at me about my potential and the things I could have done with my life instead," he paused to smile at her which she returned. He then continued once more, "Though if I hadn't have joined, then I'd have never met any of these guys, and I love every one of them," he declared affectionately, and John Murray joined Cole in also placing his arm around one of his best friends.

"We love you too, you beautiful bastard," John Murray stated endearingly. He then moved in to kiss Chuck's cheek despite strong resistance from Chuck which caused more roaring laughter and camaraderie between the seven teammates as they all continued to revel in and enjoy each others company…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah was still at the pub, and she was now feeling very relaxed as she sat alone in the corner that her team were previously in and she was enjoying her own company while occasionally smiling at and glancing around at her six teammates. Jamie and John were both playing pool together, while Chuck, Chris, Dan and Cole were all playing darts.

There was a TV fixed to a wall just above Sarah. And she was disturbed from glancing affectionately at her teammates, and she adjusted herself to look up above herself to listen to the news on the TV.

"This is BBC News at ten. We are still live with you from London as tributes continue to pour in, in response to last night's devastating terrorist attacks just twenty-four hours ago. We have live footage to show you right now. This is the Eiffel Tower turning its lights off as a show of solidarity with the UK. There have also been messages of support from the President of the United States. The President had stated that the United States stands in complete solidarity with its closest and most cherished friend. The President had also made further remarks that an attack on one ally is an attack on them all and they would defeat the scourge of terrorism side by side. In other more distressing news, in the wake of last night's attack, there have been numerous reports of several backlashes having taken place against several mosques in the United Kingdom, which have come under attack by angry citizens in response to the Islamist attack..."

Sarah sighed deeply to herself in distress, and she immediately moved to stand up from her seat, and she quickly headed outside for air as she couldn't stomach to hear any more about the attack and the operation she was involved in. She had heard and done too much for one day...

**A short moment later**.

Sarah was now sitting on a bench outside of the pub, and she was getting air when she noted as Chuck began to exit from the pub. Once outside, she watched him as he moved to sit opposite her at the bench and he smiled warmly at her, and she returned the smile in a lesser, faint way.

"Is everything ok?" he asked softly.

Sarah sighed for a short moment before responding, "It's too much for me for one day, Chuck. I was just sitting at the table, and a news report came on covering the attack. I can't hear any more about it before my head explodes," she admitted.

He began to smile sympathetically at her. "I'm sorry you're experiencing the distress you are. Do you regret joining _the_ Regiment?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, Chuck. Because I wanted to see if I was capable of it," she admitted.

"And do you think you are?" he asked in a soft tone as he continued to smile and gaze at her.

"I'm not sure," she admitted as she returned his gaze.

"Do you want my opinion?" he asked.

She nodded. "Sure."

He began to take a moment in pause. "Sarah, you're one of the best soldiers I've seen. And you're also extremely caring. Seriously, I don't think I have met many people as nice as you in my life, and that's even without the army."

She attempted to dismiss his praise, "That's too kind, Chuck," she said dismissively, and she watched him shake his head.

"No, Sarah, it's not. The only reason this is eating at you right now is that you couldn't help all of those casualties on the street. It's not because of the terrorist you killed because that's what she was, a terrorist. But the operation is eating at you because of all of that death and carnage that you saw. Sarah, it eats at me too, believe me," he stated as the two teammates continued to hold their stares onto each other.

"What do you do to get over it?" she asked him.

"I don't. I bottle it up, I guess. I don't have anyone to talk to. I love my mates inside that pub, but they aren't the type to be sharing deep conversations about feelings with," he admitted with a faint smile.

"You can talk to me, Chuck," she responded without hesitation, and she gave him a warm smile, which he returned to her.

"I might just take you up on that one day," he said as they continued to hold their gaze.

"Please do," she replied, holding her friendly smile toward him.

"So in lighter news, how about a change of topic from everything that happened today," he suggested.

She nodded. "Ok."

He smiled. "Have you found anywhere to live yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I haven't had time. I've been so busy," she admitted.

He nodded. "So do you need any help with it?" he asked, sincerely.

She shook her head no once more, and she gave him another warm smile. "I'll be fine," she said softly as the teammates continued to gaze at each other.

"Ok. But if you need help, then don't hesitate to ask me," he said, sincerely.

She held her smile. "Thank you. But I'm sure you're busy outside of work to help me what with your relationship and other things."

He shook his head. "Nonsense. I'm never too busy to help my teammates and friends, Sarah, that is if you want to be my friend," he joked, causing her to laugh.

"I can think of worse people to be friends with," she teased.

He grinned at her playfulness. "Is that a compliment or an insult?" he then asked in a playful tone of his own.

"A compliment," she replied as her smile and gaze towards her teammate held.

"Oh, thank you! You don't know how happy I am to have such a beautiful lady compliment me. My dream has come true. I can die happy now," he laughed, and she emitted a suppressed laugh.

"What about your girlfriend? Surely she compliments you?" she asked as the two teammates continued their stare.

"Jill?" he asked.

"If that's her, yeah," she said.

"I met her while out with the lads at a bar in Hereford. It just started as a bit of fun, but then she moved in. She's quite controlling, and the relationship isn't going places, and I kind of miss my own quiet space," he admitted with a faint smile, and Sarah smiled sympathetically at him.

"So you don't like the leash or any kind of restraint, huh?" she then teased, causing him to laugh and she smirked.

"Exactly! I mean look at my neck, the restraint is so big that I'm choking to death!" he said, and she watched him as he put a hand up to his throat and he imitated choking to death which quickly caused her to burst into laughter.

"You're funny," she declared affectionately.

"Actually, I'd say I'm quite silly and still a child at heart, and I never take myself seriously," he admitted with a wide grin.

"Chuck, that's not a bad thing in a guy," she said with a loving smile, and he gave her one back...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Ten minutes later**

Sarah and Chuck were still outside in the company of each other when their teammates all began to exit the pub. Averting her glance away from Chuck, Sarah glanced up as Chris, Dan, John, Cole and Jamie all exited, and she smiled at all of them as they began to stroll into the vicinity of Sarah and Chuck.

"We thought you'd both bailed on us," Staff Sergeant Chris MacDonald declared with a grin.

"Nope, I was just getting some air," Sarah said, rotating a smile between her other teammates.

"Yeah," Chuck said.

"We're going out for a curry now. Do you both fancy coming?" Cole asked, glancing at Sarah and Chuck.

Sarah shook her head. "No, thank you. If I eat that then it will make me throw up again as I did on the way back to Hereford earlier in the day," she declared humorously which caused her team to laugh.

"Oh, you get that too, huh?" John Murray asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I still get it too and Jamie," John Murray said with a sympathetic smile.

"I know. Cole told me," Sarah admitted with a loving grin.

"Oh, did he? The traitorous bastard!" John laughed as he got Cole into a headlock, which caused the team to laugh together for a short moment.

"What about you, Chuck, do you fancy one?" Big Dan asked one of his best friends.

"No, thanks. I'll have to pass too, guys. I have to get home before Jill starts a manhunt looking for me 'cause I'm home late," he paused to laugh, and the whole team burst into laughter once more, "Plus, I'm on driving duty anyway, and Sarah probably wants to head back to base now."

Sarah gazed at Chuck briefly before she shifted her glance back at her other teammates, and she nodded once more. "Yeah, I do. But thanks guys, really though. I enjoyed tonight, and it was lovely to get to know you all," she declared with a loving smile to all of her teammates.

"The pleasure was all ours, Sarah," Staff Sergeant MacDonald replied, and Sarah glanced at her team, and she watched them all nod with Chris's words, and she smiled at all of her team once more.

"Well, goodnight both of you. Sarah, I'll see you in a few days. Chuck, if you want to do anything, give us a ring," Cole said to his best friend.

Chuck began to nod. "Will do."

Chuck and Sarah then moved to stand, and they began to shake hands with each member of their team before the team departed, leaving Sarah alone with Chuck once more.

On being alone once more, Chuck continued their earlier conversation, "I'm glad you enjoyed tonight, Sarah. I remember my first days on the team."

"You don't seem like the shy kind of guy, Chuck," she declared warmly.

He began to laugh. "Oh, I am, I can assure you. Don't get me wrong; my eight years in the army have made me very confident. But outside of my work, I'm quite reserved, and I just love to watch a good movie. I love, and I idolise all five of those lads, but I'm definitely not the biggest socialite."

Sarah gave him a loving smile. "You sound a lot like me."

He began to shake his head. "A woman as beautiful as you are shouldn't have confidence issues. I sincerely hope you meet somebody soon. We all deserve to find that one person. Though I guess it's none of my business and I should shut my mouth."

She laughed briefly, and she shook her head dismissively. "No, Chuck, it's fine. Maybe one day I will," she said as she continued to gaze at him before she felt a sudden urge to yawn come along, and she began to yawn away her tiredness.

"Tired, huh?" he asked.

She nodded. "It's been a long twenty-four hours."

He nodded. "Ditto. I'll drop you off at base now. I don't know how the rest of the lads still have the energy to go out for a curry because I'm exhausted," he laughed.

"Me too," she said as she gave him yet another smile...

**A short while later**

Sarah and Chuck had just arrived back on their base, and Chuck pulled his car to a stop outside of G Squadron's accommodation section of the base.

"I'm sorry that you're the only one not to have somewhere to stay off base, Sarah," he said, sincerely with an apologetic smile.

She returned her teammate's smile. "Thanks. But it's only short term. Plus Bryce is probably here if he's still in the unit."

He began to nod in concession. "True. Well, goodnight, Sarah."

"Goodnight, Chuck," she said, and she smiled at her teammate a final time before she was about to depart from the car, but she paused in place when he began to speak to her again.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Is it ok if I write you my number? I know you said you don't need help, but if you do need my help for anything in the next three days before I see you again, then you can ring me. You can also tell me to shove off if you wan..."

She interrupted him before he could finish. "No, Chuck, that would be nice. Thank you," she finished with a smile which he returned, and she then waited in pause as he began to write down his number before he handed it over to her.

"Ok, goodnight then," he declared on handing her his number.

"Goodnight," she said as she then departed from out of the car and she stood idle to wave her teammate off, and she watched as he waved at her before he began to drive off and put some distance from her. He quickly disappeared from view, and she took this as her cue to promptly return into the barracks, and she entered into her quarters. Sarah then moved to sit on the bed in the room as the demons of taking a life and everything she saw, heard and did in London twenty-four hours ago overwhelmed her and she spent a large portion of the rest of the night in a tearful state of mind.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Chuck had just returned to his house that he was mortgaging in Hereford. He took a long moment in pause inside of his vehicle, an Audi A4 in the driveway to his home. After a difficult and challenging mission, spending time with his friends and teammates was and is everything that he needed to get over an intensive operation. The only downside to tonight was that because he was driving, he could only have two pints of beer. If he weren't driving, he probably would have consumed a dozen.

Making sure that he had collected everything from the vehicle, he departed the car, and he locked it before walking up to his door. It was pitch black out in the street, and he couldn't see what he was doing as he began to fiddle with the lock for a moment until it clicked open. On entering into his property, he closed the door behind him before turning once more. His gaze then connected onto his girlfriend, who had appeared from out of the living room.

"Hi," she greeted him softly.

"Hi," he replied in an exhausted tone.

"That was you on the news and in one of those videos, wasn't it?" she asked him.

"Jill, you know I can't talk about it," he responded with a sigh.

"Chuck, you always say that to me. I should be entitled to know where you have been for the past two days," she responded with frustration.

"Jill, you knew what you signed up for once we got together. I don't want to get into yet another disagreement with you about the topic. I am so tired and exhausted, and I just want to shower and just go to bed," he said with another sigh, and with that, he departed away from Jill, and he headed to his bathroom, and he quickly jumped into the cold shower mentally and physically exhausted...

**End of Chapter**

**AN2 **So then, Chuck starts the fiction already in a relationship. You didn't expect me to have a twenty-seven-year-old eight-year army veteran to be single with issues in getting over his college girlfriend, did you? :) You're not going to get into _the _Regiment if you have relationship insecurities and aren't confident around women. The character backgrounds are just completely different backgrounds between this Chuck and canon Chuck. Canon Chuck was raised by a loving sister and a caring dad until he walked out on him. Who Dares Wins Chuck is raised as a military boy by his military obsessed father and grandfather. His mother and sister are still loving and caring, but it's just completely different. Hopefully, it won't sway you away from the story because there doesn't seem to be many people anyway and that really will suck. Plus, I think it's evident that he is not enjoying being in the relationship he is presently in any way...

Next Chapter: Two weeks later.

"I don't do this very often. But. Do you want to come in?" Sarah asks her teammate with a lustful smile...

**AN3** I wonder who Sarah has asked inside her new home? And will they even accept her invitation? Find out, Next Chapter! And now for the writer's usual requests for you to give something back and to leave a helpful lovely review :)


	6. Chapter 6

**AN1**

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Six**

* * *

**Five days later**

**Manchester**

**United Kingdom**

**07:00 hours**

Red and Blue Teams of Mobility troop, G Squadron, SAS had just arrived by vehicles onto a street in Manchester. This particular street was about to play host to a raid onto a block of apartments housed inside a six-storey apartment complex. This morning's raid had all came about in the aftermath of the devastating terrorist attacks in London that both of the teams had confronted head-on six days ago. The SAS had received intelligence by the Security Service, otherwise known as MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5). The Security Service was the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, and it was part of the U.K.'s intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service, otherwise known as MI6, GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), and Defence Intelligence (DI). The responsibility of counter-terrorism and espionage within the U.K. was the responsibility of MI5. And as such, MI5 had been working overtime since the attack six days ago to intelligence gather and to piece together if there was still any of the terrorist cell remaining which quickly led them to the location of today's raid. MI5 believed that this specific apartment complex was the primary bomb-making location that the terrorists had used to build the explosive vests that they used to attack London six days ago. MI5 had quickly passed on the information and liaised with the SAS, and Mobility troop was subsequently ordered to raid the location to capture or kill those accountable for the attack on London.

"Rules of Engagement?" Bryce asked into the communications channel, and Chuck glanced briefly to the left of him to look at Bryce who was seated in the front passenger seat dressed in full assault gear like the rest of the team before Chuck averted his glance away from his teammate, and he continued on driving one of the teams red Range Rovers up the street to the target location. Chuck's vehicle had the lead, and there were three more vehicles following on behind, each with four highly trained and deadly special forces soldiers inside.

"Box 500 (MI5) would like live captures if possible. But not at the risk and safety of the team or civilians inside of the apartment block. You are clear to engage any potential hostile found with a weapon or explosives," Captain Wallace stated into the communications channel.

"Have Box 500 or anyone else been able to ascertain which apartment or apartments we're supposed to hit since we departed Hereford?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald inquired.

"Negative. It is deemed too risky to set up surveillance. The apartment complex is an extremely high-value target, and we wanted the location secured and raided for information the moment we learnt of its existence," Captain Wallace replied.

"Affirmative," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.

"Red and Blue teams, in position," Chuck declared as he pulled the lead vehicle to a stop and he glanced at his mirrors, and he noted the rest of the special forces convoy pulling to a halt.

"Affirmative. You have a green light to execute. Good hunting," Captain Wallace said.

With the green light to commence the operation given, Chuck immediately departed from out of the lead vehicle, and he was quickly followed by the other fifteen soldiers of Mobility troop. With the contingent of elite special forces soldiers now departed from their cars, they began to head rapidly in formation, and they closed the twenty meters until reaching the entrance of the six-storey apartment complex. The apartment complex contained four apartments on each floor, and the plan of the operation that had been agreed upon back at Hereford was an early morning raid and a silent entry by lock picking their way into the premises. Once they had entered inside, Red and Blue would split into four teams of four, and they would simultaneously silently breach and secure all four rooms on the ground floor in search of their target, which was the base of the terrorists. A small team of four would then remain posted on the ground floor to secure the entrance to the apartment complex and the elevator, which was located in the middle of the facility opposite the stairway.

Once the ground floor was secured, and all of the civilians that they may encounter were silently evacuated, the remaining twelve operators would then use the stairwell to advance on up to the upper echelons in search of their objective. Even if Mobility troop found their objective on the ground floor, command and MI5 had already ordered that all twenty-four apartments in the complex be secured and cleared.

Chuck and the rest of Mobility troop were now in position outside of the apartment block. They immediately grouped up outside the block of apartments, and Chuck watched on as Bryce, who had been designated point-man due to his expertise shown during selection of breaching, quickly got to work on picking the lock to the door of the main entrance. Chuck continued to observe as his teammate made short work of the lock and in less than a minute, the door clicked open, and the sixteen man team silently entered into the apartment complex, and they split off into their subsections.

Chuck, Bryce, Dan and Sarah were now outside the door of Apartment 1A which was on the immediate left of the main entrance to the apartment block. Bryce immediately began to pick the lock of the apartment as he had done so on the main entrance. He completed this task much quicker as the lock was not as advanced as the one present on the main entrance. With the lock of the door clicking open, Bryce took the lead, and Chuck was quickly inside after him followed by Dan and Sarah. With the small team now inside of the apartment, they quickly swept it, and it was empty of yankees or x-rays. The apartment was habitable, but nobody was present inside of it, nor did anything look suspicious inside of the apartment.

"Yep, no bomb factory here," Sarah stated, and Chuck nodded in agreement, with Bryce and Dan following suit.

"Team Alpha, Apartment 1A secured. No sign of primary objective and no yankees present," Chuck stated into comms.

"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied.

The other three teams quickly came on the air.

"Team Bravo, Apartment 1B secured. No sign of primary objective and two yankees startled but calmed and ordered to evacuate quietly," Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated in a whisper.

"Affirmative," Captain Wallace said.

"Team Charlie, Apartment 1C secured. No sign of primary objective and one yankee secured and ordered to evacuate," Blue Team leader Staff Sergeant Williams stated.

"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied.

"Team Delta, Apartment 1D secured. No sign of primary objective and two yankees secured," Blue Team member Joe Lewis stated.

"Affirmative. Ground floor secured. Continue with advance," Captain Wallace ordered.

Chuck, Bryce, Sarah and Dan all began to exit Apartment 1A, and they entered into the hallway of the ground floor. They then began to pause in wait for Team Bravo and Team Charlie to link up with them before advancing to the upper-echelons when they noted activity in the elevator to the left of them. They immediately trained their sights onto the elevator, and Chuck reported the development into the team's communication channel.

"Standby. Elevator in use," he declared, and by now both Bravo and Charlie teams had joined Chuck's team, and the three small teams waited for a few seconds until the elevator dinged wide open.

Now in Chuck's sight inside of the elevator was a middle eastern young adult male, and he immediately turned nervous with his gaze locking onto the crack SAS soldiers all pointing their guns at him.

"Hello there," Chuck heard his teammate Bryce say jokingly to the male in question.

"ABDUL! POLICE! ABDUL! POL..." the middle eastern man began to scream in panic, but he was immediately interrupted as Chuck watched on as his teammate Bryce sharply connected the butt of his rifle onto the man's head which sent the male unconscious, and he landed onto the floor of the elevator with a loud thud.

"The bastard was giving me a headache," Bryce joked, and he turned to look at his troop once more, and the entire troop either began to laugh or nod their heads approvingly at Bryce's actions.

"Too right, mate. Good job," Jamie Hughes said in approval.

"Thanks," Bryce replied, accompanied with a nod of his head aimed at his team.

"Are we compromised?" John Murray suddenly asked, and Chuck and the rest of his troop immediately began to mull over their teammate's question.

"I'm not sure. We'd better advance on quickly just to be safe," Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated, and the entire troop all nodded as they immediately began to advance on up the large stairwell to the first floor of the apartment complex.

"Command, one potential hostile disabled who emerged from the elevator," Cole stated into comms.

"Affirmative," Captain Wallace responded...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Chuck and the rest of his twelve-man team were now on the first floor, and they were in the process of clearing it much the same as the ground floor only they were now in groups of three. Chuck, Bryce and Dan were breaching into Apartment 2A, and once more, Chuck watched on as his teammate made short work of the lock, and they were inside the apartment in an instant. On entering inside after his teammate, Bryce went right, and Chuck went left. They quickly began to secure the apartment, and Chuck started to creep silently into a bedroom. Once inside the room, his gaze connected onto a sleeping Caucasian adult female, and he immediately proceeded to walk over to the bed, and he moved to place his hand over the woman's mouth to startle her awake. He instantly achieved his desired effect, and he observed as a strong look of fear formed on the woman's face.

He began to smile at her, reassuringly, and he moved to put his second hand up to his own face, and he placed his index finger on his lips in a shushing manner.

"You have nothing to worry about, ma'am. We're British Army, and we're here on a raid concerning the attack on London. Please don't make any loud noise or you will alert the bad guys that we are here to capture," Chuck stated, soothingly, and he watched as the young woman nodded her head compliantly, and only on her doing so did he feel safe enough to remove his hand from her mouth.

"What should I do?" she asked him in fear.

"We need you to evacuate the premises. We are pretty sure there are explosives in this block somewhere, and you're in extreme danger. You need to leave in a quiet and orderly manner exactly as you are dressed right now, ok?" he asked, and she nodded in compliance.

"Thank you," he said as he smiled at her, and Bryce joined him in the bedroom.

"The apartment is clear. There are no yankees in the other rooms and no primary objective," Bryce informed Chuck whilst making sure not to state the name of his teammate because of operational security.

Chuck nodded at his teammate.

"Apartment 2A clear. One yankee secured and no sign of primary objective," Chuck said quietly into comms.

"Affirmative," Captain Wallace responded.

The other three teams quickly came on the air, and they reported in their statuses.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

The first floor was now fully secure, and Mobility troop had still not discovered the bomb-making factory.

Chuck and the rest of his large team had linked up once more, and they were now advancing on up to the second floor. Bryce was in the lead when suddenly, Chuck's glance connected onto a young middle eastern man who was quickly descending the stairs, and he almost ran smack-bang into Bryce when he froze in place. Chuck watched on as the middle eastern man's gaze connected onto Chuck and his entire team on the stairway, and he watched as the man immediately turned back around and he began to dash back up the stairs in a scramble and he started screaming, "POLICE! POLICE!"

Chuck then watched as his teammate Bryce immediately began to give chase quickly followed by himself and the rest of his team as the elite special forces team began to ascend the stairwell in pursuit of the hostile at a rapid pace.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD!" Chuck heard his teammate scream, and Chuck attempted to keep up with his teammate, but the hostile and his teammate were too fast for him as the twelve-man team, and the hostile quickly passed the entrance to the second floor.

"Bryce, wait!" Chuck called out as he and the rest of the team continued to chase after the hostile being chased by their teammate as they now passed the entrance to the third floor.

"We need to catch the fucker before he blows the whole fucking building up!" Bryce shouted back, and the chase down continued as the team, and the hostile, passed the entrance to the fourth floor, and they were now heading at speed up to the fifth and final floor.

Chuck no longer had his teammate or the hostile in his line of sight.

"Bryce, for fuck sake, mate!" Chuck called out as he attempted to keep up with and provide cover for his teammate when he heard the door slam open up above him, and he continued to listen to the screams of the hostile and Chuck continued to chase until he was now at the top of the fifth floor and there were no more stairs remaining.

He quickly entered onto the floor followed by the rest of the team following on right behind him. Chuck dashed along the corridor of the fifth floor, and he trained his rifle to where he had just seen his teammate enter into the apartment, and as he did so, he could see a hostile in his line of view carrying a large knife. The hostile was about to lunge in the direction of his teammate, and Chuck aimed his rifle, and he discharged a rapid burst from his L119A1 CQB 10 inch Carbine onto the terrorist lunging at his teammate with a massive knife. Almost immediately after, Chuck then heard the discharging of a Sig Sauer P226 pistol from his teammate at the same target. His teammate probably would have connected the shot before the terrorist had reached him, but Chuck was taking no chances as he didn't have his teammate in view, so he didn't know his teammate was armed.

Chuck then entered into the apartment, and he scanned his view around the apartment for any further threat to him and to his teammates. During his scan of the apartment, he instantly connected his gaze onto his teammate grappling with a second X-ray who was the same one from the stairway, and he rushed over to aid his teammate, and he lined up his rifle, and he connected a devastating blow from the butt of the rifle onto the spine of the hostile which caused the terrorist's grip to loosen on Bryce, and the terrorist slumped backwards to land on the floor of the apartment.

"Contact!" Cole yelled into comms, and he immediately entered into the apartment along with many other of their teammates, and they all began to assess the situation inside of the apartment.

"Sit, rep!" Captain Wallace demanded with an urgent tone. Captain Wallace was back in the operations room in Hereford, and each special forces soldier was wearing body cams, so he would have access to the footage, but there was usually a short delay in the footage transmitting back to the base, so the Captain likely hadn't seen the engagement just yet.

On getting his breath back from the intense chase down, Bryce said, "One hostile KIA. He lunged at me with a knife. We have secured a second hostile. The second hostile was attempting to rush to explosive vests found in the apartment to probably detonate and destroy the evidence, but I fought the fucker off."

Taking in his teammate's words, Chuck immediately glanced around the apartment, and it was an absolute goldmine of intelligence gathering. There were explosives and chemicals everywhere, not to mention numerous other items of interest.

"Affirmative. Good job," Captain Wallace said, approvingly.

"Holy fuck! It's a gold mine!" Cole stated with excitement as he began to glance and survey around the apartment.

Chuck began to shake his head at Bryce, accompanied by a wide grin. "Fucking hell, Bryce!" he exclaimed with an approving laugh, and Chuck started to pant furiously from that extremely intense chase down along with the rest of their team following suit…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**09:00 hours**

The apartment complex in Manchester was now completely secure. The SAS with the help of Armed Greater Manchester Police had evacuated the premises. Command and control back at Hereford had liaised with Greater Manchester Police because twenty-four apartments was a large number to fully secure with no further silent approach for a team of sixteen. The complex did contain a bomb-making factory inside of the apartment that Bryce had chased the terrorist into. That terrorist, along with the one from the elevator, had now been secured, and they would be taken to a police station where MI5 would be questioning them extensively. Inside of Apartment 6D was sophisticated bomb-making materials, two laptops, many mobile phone devices and a large portion of physical intelligence paperwork. The entire apartment was a treasure trove of intelligence. Bryce might have single-handedly given the intelligence services a goldmine because that terrorist that Bryce had chased down would have undoubtedly blown the apartment sky high if Bryce hadn't had given chase. Bryce had certainly made up for what happened in London six days ago in Chuck's opinion. In addition to Apartment 6D, there was also numerous items of interest in Apartment 6C, which was adjacent to 6D and the SAS had immediately cleared it just earlier by kicking in the door along with every other door once their silent approach had come to a dramatic conclusion.

The intelligence-gathering operation was now about to begin as numerous MI5 employees started to arrive as also had a unit of the Royal Logistic Corps. The Royal Logistic Corps was the organization that made safe bombs and explosives among numerous other things of interest in the United Kingdom.

There was now also a police cordon in place around the block of flats. A large crowd was beginning to gather out in the street. Because of the crowd gathering, the SAS had just been ordered by command to return to base due to OPSEC (operational security) purposes as the secrecy of their identities was vital to the safety of their operations.

"That fucker was quick. I couldn't keep up," Chuck stated incredulously to his team that were standing together at their vehicles. He then watched as his entire team either nodded or laughed in agreement.

"Yeah, he was. But I got the bastard," Bryce declared as he began to glance at his team.

"You did, mate," John Murray said with pride.

"Yeah, seriously. Good job, Trooper," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said with praise to his team-member.

"There's so much information in that apartment that could lead us down numerous avenues. Seriously Bryce, good job. If you hadn't have apprehended him, then he probably would have detonated one of the prepared explosive vests," Chuck said, and he proceeded to nod with approval towards his teammate.

"I needed to show you guys that I still have some value to the team," Bryce said as he continued to glance around the fifteen other soldiers.

"Well, you certainly showed that mate. We might just get the whole cell and maybe some game-changing intel on other cells through your quick actions firstly in disabling the fucker in the lift that was screaming, and then the second you grappled with," Blue Team Leader Staff Sergeant Williams stated…

**A short while later**

Red and Blue Teams were now in transit back to their base in Hereford after a successful operation. Chuck was driving the lead vehicle, with Bryce in the front seat, and John Murray and Jamie Hughes in the back.

"This is BBC Radio One, and we have a belter of a tune to bring to you this morning to start your day. Here is Modjo with – Lady (Hear Me Tonight). Enjoy."

"Oh, oh! Here we go!" Chuck stated with excitement, and he proceeded to turn up the volume of the radio in the SUV full-blast.

"Oh shit, what a tune!" John Murray exclaimed in approval, and Chuck began to sing.

"Lady, hear me tonight. 'Cause my feeling is just so right!" Chuck started singing, and John Murray quickly joined one of his best friends, "As we dance, by the moonlight!"

Their other friend, Jamie Hughes, quickly joined the two friends in the singalong, "Can't you see, you're my delight?"

"Lady, I just feel like. I won't get you, out of my mind!" Chuck continued the singsong.

Followed by Jamie Hughes, "I feel loved for the first time."

"And I know that it's true. I can tell by the look in your eyes!" John Murray finished, which caused Bryce to laugh at his three teammates, and Chuck glanced at Bryce as their new teammate began to look at all three of them.

"Um, guys, everyone in this car is singing," Bryce informed the team on their communications channel, which caused strong laughter to erupt among the whole team of sixteen.

"Oh, here we go, a drive-back would never be a drive-back without Chuck blasting out the tunes!" Cole stated endearingly to his best friend into the communication channel, which caused Chuck to smile and the team to laugh strongly once more.

"You know it, Cole," Chuck said joyfully to his best friend.

"At least tell me it's a good song this time and not Bob the Builder, like the last time you did it," Cole said to his best friend, which caused the channel to erupt with yet more laughter as the SAS soldiers fondly began to recall the last time that Chuck did it.

"Lady (Hear Me Tonight)," Chuck replied.

"Oh shit! What a tune! What station?" Big Dan asked from another one of the SAS vehicles.

"BBC Radio One," Chuck said as he continued jamming to a monster of a tune with Jamie Hughes and John Murray.

"Does he always do this?" Sarah asked as she came on the air.

"Yeah," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said, warmly.

"I'm glad I'm not in the same car as him," she retorted, which caused yet more laughter from the operators.

"For that, I'm leaving the channel on!" Chuck quipped back as he did precisely that as Chuck, John, Jamie, Big Dan and numerous others, including Bryce, continued singing until the song finished playing.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**11:00 hours**

Mobility troop had now arrived back on their base, and Captain Wallace was debriefing the full troop of sixteen.

"Box 500 is extremely pleased with the intelligence recovered in the two apartments. It's a treasure trove of information. I hear that we have you to thank for that, Trooper Larkin," Captain Wallace stated, and he nodded approvingly at his soldier.

"I was just doing my part, sir. I want to catch every single one of the fuckers responsible for what they did to our country. I didn't do it for praise. I did it to help my country. If the fucker detonated one of those prepared vests, then we wouldn't have got that information and the whole block of flats could have gone up killing numerous civilians, and most of my team along with him and I wasn't going to allow that to happen," Bryce stated with conviction.

"Good man," Captain Wallace said, and he pointed at Bryce with approval, while Chuck and the rest of his troop began to glance at Bryce with a new look of respect…

**A short while later**

Mobility troop was now seated together on one of the three large benches in the cafeteria, and they were all engaging in light conversation with each other. Chuck was sitting next to Sarah, and Bryce was seated opposite him.

"Sarah, I'm disappointed that you didn't call me in the three days that we had off," he said to her.

Sarah raised her gaze up away from her dinner plate, and a cute smile began to form as she began to glance at him. "I didn't think you were serious."

Chuck immediately quirked his eyebrows at her chosen words. "What, really?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Chuck shook his head in disapproval. "I'm offended now, Sarah, that you could think so little of me," he said, playfully.

He watched as she gave him another smile. "Oh dear, what can I do to make up for it?" she teased in a playful tone of her own.

"You can come out with us again tonight," he said with a wide grin.

"Deal," she said, returning his warm smile.

"And you're buying a round," Chuck added in, holding his warm gaze.

"Ok, now you're pushing it!" she laughed back with her continued smile...

**A short while later**

Red Team was now preparing to clock off duty for the day, and they were presently inside their barracks changing back into their civilian clothes. Mobility troop and Mountain troop were no longer on immediate standby to move, and they had instead switched roles with Air and Boat troops who had been put on immediate standby instead. However, because of the attack six days ago, Colonel Wood had now cancelled all training exercises until they were sure that there would be no further attacks on the U.K.

Once Chuck had finished changing into his civvies, which was a tailored navy blue shirt and jeans, he then departed his on-base accommodation, and he decided to check in on Sarah to see if she was ready. Arriving outside Room Four, he knocked on the door.

"Come in," she called out, and on receiving the cue, he entered into his teammate's quarters.

"Are you ready?" he asked as he glanced at his teammate, and he took in her appearence. She was wearing a grey coloured cardigan with a belt, and a black shirt and pants and her long blonde hair was flowing freely.

_She is so beautiful._

"Yeah," she said as she met his gaze, and she smiled at him.

"Sarah, you look great," he declared with a loving smile, and she held her smile toward him.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself," she declared.

"Thanks," he replied as the teammates then continued to gaze at each other for an extended moment before they departed out of her quarters together and they joined up one by one with Cole, Chris, Dan, Jamie and John.

"Let's check in on Bryce," Chuck said, and his team all nod and they all then begin to walk towards Room Eight, which had the name Bryce Larkin under it.

With the team now outside Bryce's quarters, Chuck knocked on the door, but he didn't give anyone a chance to answer as he immediately entered inside with the rest of his team following suit behind him.

"We're heading out for a piss up. Fancy tagging along?" Chuck asked his new teammate, and he watched as Bryce glanced at everyone standing behind him.

"Does that mean I'm back on the team?" Bryce asked as he glanced at Chuck and then his six other teammates standing behind Chuck.

"Yeah. Welcome back," Staff Sergeant Chris MacDonald said, and Chuck watched as Bryce smiled and he moved to stand up.

The entire team began to walk deeper into Bryce's quarters from where they were squashed together at his doorway, and they all moved to shake Bryce's hand one by one.

"Just don't do anything else to fuck up Bryce, or they'll throw you out," Chuck warned his teammate, and Chuck watched his teammate nod, and he glanced around Chuck and the rest of their team.

"I know. I won't. The CO told me I get one and only one warning. Another mistake and I'm RTU'd. I've worked my whole life to get to where I am today," Bryce stated.

"We all have, Bryce," Sarah responded, and the whole team nodded their heads in agreement with their teammate.

"I know. And I'm sorry for what happened on the bridge six days ago. I could have got you killed," Bryce said, glancing at his team.

"Forget about that now. It's history. Seriously, good job in Manchester this morning," Chuck declared warmly.

"Cheers. That fucker was fast," Bryce laughed out, which caused the entire team to burst into laughter from where they were all gathered in Bryce's quarters together.

"You were too. We couldn't keep up with you, you bastard," Chuck laughed out.

"I could have kept up, but I was being blocked and couldn't get past Big Dan," Sarah chimed in causing the team of eight to laugh once more.

"Are you calling me fat? Cheeky bitch," Big Dan retorted endearingly, which resulted in strong laughter from the team of eight as they all turned joyful, and they put their arms around each other as they headed to the pub to get drunk together…

**End of Chapter.**

**AN2** Sorry guys, I decided to do Bryce's Redemption before the teaser that I showed. It will still occur, but it will be either next chapter or the chapter after.

The next chapter is going to be the team at their second off duty outing as a team. And depending on the length, it will either be standalone, or it will contain this upcoming scene in it.

"I don't do this very often. But... Do you want to come in?" Sarah asks her teammate with a lustful smile...

I wonder who Sarah has asked inside her new home? And will they even accept her invitation? Find out soon!

Please review :) Thank you and I will see you all again soon!


	7. Chapter 7

**AN1 **Aaaaaaaaaaand review count has halved again... Just when I thought it was good, you pull it back down! (props to anybody that catches the reference)

**AN2** I thought that I would have some difficulty making this chapter last long enough as a standalone. I was wrong. It's now a 5,666 worded standalone!

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

Chuck pulled his Audi A4 to a stop on the tarmac of the driveway to his home. Bryce and Sarah were present with him as his passengers, but they wouldn't be for much longer, because the three teammates were about to exit the vehicle. They would then be awaiting Cole to pick them up who, along with Jamie Hughes, had been designated as one of the two drivers for this evening whilst Red Team was still on their base.

Throughout Chuck's three years in _the_ Regiment thus far, his team had always taken turns on driving duties on their many piss ups that they had undertaken together. Though if Chuck began to think deeper about it, then he had always ended up taking on that duty a fair share more than the rest of his comrades due to volunteering himself for it. However, Chuck very much planned to drink himself silly tonight, as he was unable to do so five nights ago. Hence why he had absolutely no intentions of volunteering to take on those duties this evening just earlier while they were all on their base together.

Chuck moved to fire down the engine of his car, and on doing so, he then began to glance at Sarah for a short moment, who was sitting in the front of his car, before he changed his glance to Bryce, via the aid of the rear-view mirror. "I'm sorry about this by the way. It's just that Cole wanted to pay a visit to his fiancee before we head out."

Sarah smiled reassuringly at him. "It's ok. I'm not in a rush anyway," she said.

"I hope he doesn't take too long. I want to get pissed," Bryce said with a grin, and Chuck suppressed a laugh.

"You and me both, mate," Chuck declared humorously, and he took a moment to compose himself before he continued to make conversation, "Do you both drive yourselves, by the way?"

Sarah nodded, and she held her smile toward him.

"Yeah. I just have to arrange to get it over here," Bryce said.

"Me too," Sarah replied.

Chuck smiled at his teammates before he asked, "Cool. So what do you both drive?"

"I have a Vauxhall Corsa D. I purchased it a year ago," Sarah said as she held her gaze onto Chuck.

Meeting her glance once more, Chuck grinned at her. "Ooh, compact, nice," he said.

Sarah nodded, and she held her smile, and he continued to gaze at her for a second or two longer until he shifted his gaze back onto his rear-view mirror.

"What about you, Bryce?" he then asked, now gazing at his other teammate.

"I have a Four-door BMW E46," Bryce replied, and Chuck began to chuckle.

"Of course you do," he said while fighting off a smirk, and he glanced at Bryce with one eye, while looking at Sarah with the other, and he watched as Sarah began to smirk, likely due to her probably thinking the same thing as him.

"What do you mean by that?" Bryce asked with his Mancunian accent.

Chuck glanced at Bryce in his rear-view mirror once more. "It just seemed to be your type of car, mate. I didn't mean it as an insult," he said humorously.

Bryce nodded his head, and he began to laugh.

"I agree with Chuck. I have just been thinking the same thing as him. When he asked what cars we drove my first thought to your car was also a BMW," Sarah said, chiming into the discussion.

Chuck started to nod his head in approval of Sarah's words while also emitting a light chuckle at them at the same time.

"I didn't see you as an Audi guy," Bryce said after a short moment, and Chuck met his gaze once more.

"What can I say? I have good taste," Chuck declared, causing the three teammates to share laughter together.

"Come on inside for a quick minute. I'll introduce you to my girlfriend if she's home," Chuck said as he then departed from his car, and Sarah and Bryce began to follow him up his pathway. On arrival at the door to his home, Chuck took out his house keys from his jeans, and he proceeded to open the lock, and he entered inside with his two teammates following on from behind.

Pausing inside his hallway for a short moment, Chuck then connected his gaze onto Jill, who had appeared from out of the living room. Jill met his gaze briefly before Chuck watched as her gaze shifted behind himself to evidently query the presence of his teammates.

"Hi," he greeted her softly, and he smiled at her before adding further comment, "These are my two new teammates that I told you about. Sarah and Bryce," he said before he began to move to the side slightly so that he could see both Jill, and his teammates at the same time.

"Hey," Sarah said.

Bryce quickly followed, "Hi."

"Hi," Jill said as she nodded at both Sarah and Bryce, before her gaze connected onto Chuck once more. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Chuck?"

Chuck nodded at Jill, before looking at his two teammates. "One moment," he said to them, affording them a smile.

Bryce nodded in response, as did Sarah, but she also returned his smile.

Chuck then moved to close the distance between Jill and himself.

"What's up?" he asked in a quieter tone on arriving in her immediate vicinity.

Jill began to sigh, and she looked at Sarah and Bryce once more for a brief moment. "Chuck, I don't want to be rude. But what are they doing here?"

Jill's question, and the abruptness in her tone towards his teammates, caused his smile to fade. "We're waiting for Cole to pick us up before heading out to the pub," he admitted, and a look of frustration formed on Jill's face as she began to shake her head.

"Chuck, I hoped to do something ourselves. Maybe we could head out somewhere together?" she said.

Chuck began to sigh. "Jill, you know we always head out after a mission. It's regimental tradition," he protested.

"A mission I know nothing about," Jill said, whilst continuing to shake her head in disapproval over both his words to her, and Bryce and Sarah's presence.

Chuck sighed dejectedly once more. "Jill, you could come out with us, but every time you have you haven't enjoyed it, and you have mostly refused the offer in the times that I have invited you since so I don't bother asking you any more."

Jill started to nod. "Yeah, because there's no point because you're always busy with the lads, and I always feel like an outsider," she complained.

Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "Jill, I don't know what to say. You have your friends, and I never tell you to ditch those and I never will do that so I would appreciate that you don't do the same to my friends. I don't nor did I expect you to give up your life when you moved in here," he said calmly, refusing to get into a disagreement because that was the last thing that he wanted after a heated operation this morning. All that Chuck wanted to do right now was to relax with his friends after a very long day...

"Maybe you should just ask them all to move in with us, Chuck! I'm sure we can find room for the entire bloody Regiment!" she said in frustration before she immediately began to storm off in the direction of the kitchen, which caused him to emit yet another sigh, but this time a much deeper one.

He then began to turn to glance at his teammates once more, and they both smiled sympathetically at him.

"Problems at home?" Bryce asked softly.

Chuck shrugged it off dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

Bryce began to nod in acceptance, while Sarah continued her sympathetic smile toward him, and he met her gaze.

"Let's head back out. I have no desire to fight another battle today. Especially not in my own home. The one in Manchester was more than enough for one day," Chuck joked causing Sarah to laugh and Bryce to nod as they then began to depart Chuck's home, and right on cue, Cole arrived, and he parked up his car outside Chuck's house in wait.

The three teammates began to walk to join up with their comrade at his car, and Cole exited his vehicle to greet his best friend and his two other teammates.

"Bloody hell! Nice wheels, mate!" Bryce stated, and Chuck watched as his new teammate began to admire his best friend's Mercedes C55.

"This is neater than my own and Chuck's!" Bryce added in a further comment, which caused Chuck to begin to glare daggers at his comrade over his remarks about his pride and joy. Chuck loved his white Audi A4 B7 Sedan more than anything.

"You cheeky bastard!" Chuck said with venom as he continued to glare disapprovingly at Bryce, which caused Cole to laugh and nod his head approvingly at Bryce for his comments made.

"You're my new favourite friend, Bryce, and for that, you get the front seat!" Cole stated endearingly, which caused Chuck to immediately change his disapproving stare onto Cole instead.

"You traitorous bastard!" Chuck shouted with disgust to his best friend as he began to shake his head. "I'm not coming with you guys any more. Come on, Sarah, let's go somewhere else," he said, glancing at his teammate looking to her to back him up.

"Sorry, Chuck. I prefer the Merc too," Sarah declared to him with a wide, affectionate smile which caused Bryce and Cole to laugh approvingly.

"Good lass," Cole said with a wide grin to his other new teammate, which caused Chuck to rotate his disgusted stare between his three teammates and now enemies.

"Oh, gosh! Some team you all are! I see how it is! Picking on the tallest one!" he shouted at them.

"You're only taller than me by two inches, Chuck," Cole stated to his best friend and Chuck furiously nodded his head.

"Yeah, I am! So suck it up! You may have a better car than me, but you'll never be taller than me, you bastard!" he joked, causing the small team to burst into laughter.

"I don't know why you two are laughing either. You're not getting a lift from me any more. Especially you, Sarah!" he added in, and all three of his teammates began to snort with laughter.

"Don't sweat over it. If you need a lift, just call me," Cole said, and Chuck immediately began to shake his head in disgust once more.

"I'll remember this!" Chuck said with conviction. "You're getting embarrassed in my best man speech."

"I'll ask Bryce to be my best man instead," Cole retorted, and Chuck immediately moved to put his hand on his heart.

"Ok, now you've hurt me! And Sophie loves me. When I tell her what you've just said and done, then the engagement will be off. You've had it now, Cole!" Chuck declared before he immediately burst into laughter and his three comrades joined him as they all moved to enter into Cole's Mercedes, with Bryce climbing into the front seat...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Cole all began to exit Cole's car, and Cole locked up his vehicle, and he quickly joined back up with his teammates as the four comrades began to walk to the entrance to the same pub that Red Team were all together at minus Bryce five days ago in Hereford. The location they were at was one of their favourite places to relax and unwind because the team got on very well with the owner, a middle-aged man called Jim, and he usually left them to be in their own company. Jim knew who they all were, but he had never used it against them or to his advantage by ever boasting to his friends or to his customers that he regularly served numerous members of 22 Reg SAS. Arriving at the entrance to the pub, Cole entered first followed by Chuck and then Sarah and then Bryce. With the small team now inside of the pub, their gazes all connected onto the other members of their team who were standing at the bar together and Chuck watched as they all paused their activities to glance at the rest of their team instead.

"Oi, Oi!" Big Dan shouted warmly to his four comrades, and they all smiled at Dan before nodding at Chris, John and Jamie. Chris and Jamie then broke their gaze, and they continued engaging in conversation with each other once more.

"What's up, Big Man?" Chuck asked as he walked into the vicinity of one of his best friends, and he shook his hand.

"I'm only two inches taller than you, you bastard," Big Dan responded with a loving grin as Chuck started to snort in approval of the reaction to his words.

Chuck then turned his attention to one of his other best friends, John Murray, and he greeted him warmly, "Alright, mate," he said, and the Scot grinned as he shook Chuck's hand.

"We thought you'd got lost, you bastards," John Murray said as he began to glance at Chuck and Sarah, while Cole and Bryce had moved to greet and engage in conversation with Chris and Jamie just a few steps away from them.

"Nah, it's just Cole's slow-ass driving! Though I'm glad that he has the driving responsibilities because the two newbies think his car is better than mine!" Chuck shouted in a tone loud enough to make sure the entire team could hear him, and they all burst into laughter.

Jamie Hughes then began to turn his back on Chris, Cole and Bryce to glance at Chuck instead. "It is, mate," Jamie said, which caused Chuck to gasp in a deep feeling of betrayal once more.

"Dan, Chris, John? Back me up, fellas! I need at least someone in my corner," Chuck pleaded as he began to gape at his comrades and friends.

"You can piss off! I'm getting sick of you mocking my height. At least Cole doesn't so I'm taking the Merc," Big Dan said which caused Chuck to gasp once more.

"Chris?" Chuck asked with his eyes squinted, and he began to look pleadingly at his team leader.

"I'm sick of you playing shite music like Bob the Builder on drive-backs, so it's a no from me too," Chris said, and Chuck winced once more as the entire team minus Chuck burst into laughter before Chuck then looked at his final remaining comrade to back him up.

"John?" Chuck asked as his eyes squinted once more, and he looked puppy-eyed into his comrade's eyes.

"Do it, John. You know you love the Merc," Cole said encouragingly, and Chuck shifted his glance around his team before resting his glance back onto John.

"Your car is shite, Cole, mate! You told Sarah I throw up after an op, so the Audi wins all day long. It's not even a contest!" he declared, which caused the entire team to burst into laughter but more so for Chuck as his laughter was approving laughter!

"Oh, thank you!" Chuck belted out relieved with his hands raised into the air in relief, and he quickly rushed to bear-hug his now all-time best friend.

"You owe me big time, fella," John Murray retorted, and Chuck nodded strongly in relief and agreement which furthered the laughter of the team.

"I'm buying the first round then. But not for these two. They can buy their own," Cole declared as he glanced at Chuck and John Murray.

"Right, that's it. I'm switching to the SBS (Special Boat Service)! Fuck the SAS!" Chuck retorted, and John Murray furiously nodded in agreement.

"Too bloody right, mate! Time for us both to learn how to swim again," John Murray said, and Chuck furiously nodded.

"Take that back, you bastards!" Staff Sergeant MacDonald ordered both Chuck and John Murray.

"Nope," Chuck said as he furiously began to shake his head.

"No chance!" John Murray retorted as he also shook his head.

"Take it back, Chuck!" Cole said, and Chuck furiously shook his head in defiance once more.

"No chance," Chuck then said verbally as he glanced at Cole.

"Take it back, you bastards!" Big Dan demanded as he glanced distastefully at his two traitorous teammates.

"Make us," Chuck said in continued defiance, and he watched as John Murray furiously began to nod in agreement.

"Bring it on, bitches," John Murray interjected.

"Right, no one here buy either of these two a round until they retract their statements," Chris ordered his team.

"Agreed," Cole and Dan quickly concurred with the Staff Sergeant.

"We don't need your stinking rounds anyway. We'll buy our own 'cause we're joining the SBS!" Chuck said, and John Murray furiously nodded once more.

"Too right, mate!" the Scot replied with a furious nod of his head as the crack SAS unit suddenly all burst into laughter, and they began to revel in each others company…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Red Team were still standing at the bar, but they were engaged in numerous different conversations. Chuck was presently engaged in conversation with his new comrade Bryce.

"Chuck, thanks for having my back in that apartment today. I'm not sure if I would have landed the shot before he stabbed me," Bryce declared, and Chuck smiled at his teammate before warmly patting him on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, mate. You'd have my back in that situation too," Chuck said, and Bryce began to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I would," Bryce said, and the two teammates gazed at each other with a look of respect and comradeship.

"Does killing play on your mind? You seem fine with it," Bryce asked.

Chuck took a moment to mull over his teammate's question to him. "Not really. It did at first. But now I've very much come to terms with it being them or me and I very much enjoy living," he paused, and he watched Bryce nod before he continued, "In the two missions we've undertaken together as teammates so far, every hostile we have killed were all terrorists trying to kill our unarmed and innocent countrymen. I'm quite glad they're dead to be honest, mate. Because they can't terrorise anyone else any more," he admitted.

Bryce furiously began to nod. "I agree, mate. It's not like they say are French Army and we are meeting them on a field and fighting a battle. These bastards are walking into shopping centres and blowing up women, children and babies," Bryce said with distaste, and Chuck nodded strongly at each and every single word said.

"Exactly mate. And that's why I'm not losing any sleep over a terrorist dying by me shooting them dead like that scumbag I shot today. I'm not heartless, and I never will be, but I will never give people like that any second thought. The hardest part of being in the army is losing teammates or seeing civilians die to cowardly acts. Now those things do hit home with me hard and cause me to second guess if I belong in the military sometimes," Chuck admitted and once more, Bryce began to nod.

"Have you lost many teammates?" Bryce asked, and Chuck nodded affirmatively as a sad smile began to form.

"Even one is too many, mate," Chuck said, and his new teammate nodded strongly in agreement once more...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah and the rest of her team were still at the pub, and Sarah had just finished talking with Cole. Their topic of conversation had been about Cole's engagement and upcoming marriage, and he had told Sarah how he had met his partner, Sophie, on a night out with most of the people present at the pub tonight. Sarah had asked him who was to be best man and Cole had said that even though the team joked about who it was to be, they all knew and accepted that it was going to be Chuck. Cole had told Sarah that he loved Chuck as a brother, and that Chuck felt the same way towards him and that Chuck was the best friend that Cole had ever had even though like Chuck, he had also told Sarah that he loved every single one of the rest of the guys almost as much. Cole had then excused himself to the restroom while Chris and Dan were busy playing darts and Bryce, Jamie and John were occupied in talking to numerous women in another corner of the pub.

Sarah began to glance to the left of her, and she met her gaze with Chuck, and they smiled warmly at each other.

"Hi," he said, grinning at her.

"Oh, hi. I didn't know you were there," she joked with her continued smile, and he moved to put his hand on his heart.

"You're behaving very wickedly to me today, Sarah! That's three things now. Firstly in the canteen when you insulted me. Then you took Cole's side and now this," he said with a smirk, and she snorted approvingly at his words.

"I'm sorry. I guess I should make up for those things and be a better friend to you," she replied with a wicked smirk.

He began to nod. "Yes, you should. I'm starting to regret asking to be your friend now if this is how you treat your friends," he stated, playfully.

She smiled at him as the two teammates continued to stare at each other as they drowned out the background noise in the noisy pub. "You're right. What if I buy you a drink. Will that make up for it?" she asked, holding her gaze.

"It will go a long way to repairing your actions towards me, yeah," he said as he smiled at her.

"Can you at least have a spirit like me, though? I don't like feeling like the odd one out," she said with a faint smile, and he grinned at her once more.

"Sure. I'll have whatever you're having. Because that's me being a good friend, just give me one second to finish this pint," he said, and she watched on with a vivid interest as her teammate picked up his pint glass and he downed half of a full pint in just a few short seconds, and her mouth opened agape.

"Jesus! You must have a cast-iron stomach," she declared to him in shock, and he began to grin and nod in agreement.

"After drinking beer for most of my eight years in the army, I do," he declared, holding his grin and she started to smile before emitting a brief chuckle for a short moment before she began to order two Captain Morgan's Spice Rum for herself and her comrade.

Sarah and Chuck were promptly served their two drinks, and she glanced at him once more, and they shared a smile as Chuck moved to hold his glass near to her own as he said, "Cheers."

"Bottoms up," Sarah said as she moved to connect her drink with his own.

The two teammates then began to relax and unwind at the bar together whilst their other teammates continued to engage in activities all around them.

Glancing briefly to where Bryce, John and Jamie were still located, Sarah observed as her teammates continued to talk and flirt away with four young women that appeared to be around the same age as her teammates.

"So, Sarah?" Chuck asked, and Sarah broke her gazing around the pub to make eye contact with Chuck once more.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Did you find anywhere to live off base in those three days you had off?" he asked.

She smiled, warmly at her teammate. "Yeah. I think I may have."

A wide grin began to form on her teammate's face. "That's great. What's it like?" he asked.

She returned his warm smile, and she held her gaze as she replied, "It's a modern two-bedroom apartment right in the centre of Hereford."

"Ooh, what street?" he asked, inquisitively.

"It's just off Victoria Street in Victoria Court," she said, continuing to gaze at him.

"Oh, I know exactly where that is! That is right in the centre," he declared.

She nodded. "Yeah," she said as her warm gaze held.

"Have you been to see it yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. But I need to," she admitted.

"Can I take you?" he offered.

She turned a little fidgety at her teammate's offer of help. "Chuck, you don't have to do that," she said in an attempt to protest his offer of help.

"I want to," he declared without hesitation.

Sarah began to smile at her teammate's kindness. "Ok," she agreed, and he began to grin at her.

"Great! So when would you like to go and see it?" he asked.

Sarah took a moment in pause to contemplate his question to her. "Preferably tomorrow. If that's…"

He interrupted her before she could finish, "Tomorrow it is then!" he said with a grin, and she beamed him an affectionate smile because of his kindness towards her. They had only known each other for nearly two weeks, and since the first day they met, he had done nothing but help her at every single opportunity.

"Your girlfriend is a very lucky woman, Chuck," she declared as she continued to stare into her teammate's eyes and she smiled affectionately at him once more.

He began to grin, but his smile quickly faded. "Apparently she doesn't seem to think so. It would appear I'm not entitled to a life with my friends."

She gave him another loving smile before her own smile faded, and she turned serious. "If you'll forgive me for being blunt. I don't care what she thinks."

He began to wince at her bluntness, which caused her to snort approvingly.

"Ouch! That was blunt!" he joked.

"Sorry," she said unapologetically, as they continued their stare on toward each other.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

_This is BBC News at ten o clock, and we are coming live to you from Manchester. The street that we are presently standing on may look like a regular street to you. But in the early hours of this morning, a dramatic raid occurred just yards from where we are standing. You can still see the significant police presence and the large cordon in place, and Greater Manchester Police have told us that it will likely stay as such for several days. We have not been given much information as of yet but what we do know is that at around 07:00 hours this morning, a crack British SAS unit raided this block of flats that I am pointing at right now. The raid concluded in dramatic fashion as we have had it confirmed to us that the crack SAS unit had shot and killed a terrorist during the raid that is without a doubt connected to the events that occurred in London six days ago. Police have confirmed that there has been one fatality. And the only information provided to us so far is that that terrorist had attempted to attack one of the soldiers with a knife. We will apprise you of more, just as soon as we get it..._

"I take it that was you," Jim the pub owner asked the team who had all gathered at the bar again.

"Come on, Jim, you know we don't do that," Staff Sergeant MacDonald reprimanded the friendly barman, and the rest of the team began to nod at Jim in agreement with their team leader's statement.

Jim began to nod in acceptance, and the team watched as the barman raised his hands into the air. "You're right. I'm sorry. So, what will it be then?"

"Ask Speedy Gonzales over there. It's his turn for a round," Chuck declared as he nodded over at Bryce, which caused the entire team to burst into roaring, uncontrollable laughter.

"Speedy Gonzales? I love it!" John Murray declared as he nodded in strong approval over the new nickname for his new comrade.

"That's his new name from this moment on," Big Dan declared with absolute conviction causing everybody at the bar except Bryce to nod their heads in strong agreement.

Speedy Gonzales then began to order the next round of drinks for the team of eight...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Red Team was still at the pub, and they had all had a fantastic night together. Sarah was currently in the company of one of her new teammates, Bryce. Though she knew him the most, as they had undergone selection together for nine months.

"You like him, don't you?" Bryce asked her suddenly, and a dumbfounded look formed on Sarah's face over the extremely personal and utterly random question that he had just asked her.

"Who?" she asked dumbfoundedly as her curiosity to find the answer to his question overwhelmed her.

"Chuck," Bryce said as he nodded over at his teammate.

A look of disgust took shape on Sarah's face, and she began to shake her head to display that disgust towards her teammate. "That's none of your business!" she snapped sternly over his line of questioning.

He began to nod. "That's true. You're right. It is none of my business. But Sarah, you _are_ entitled to like somebody. And I know you like him, we all do, as you barely take your eyes away from him," he revealed.

"I don't screw the guys I work with, Bryce. I meant it when I told you that during our SERE," she said with no emotion attached to her tone as she gazed at him.

"Sarah, it's just a bit of fun. You _should_ and _can_ live your life however you want to, with who you want to. Nobody would hold it against you, and they would be assholes if they did. I know I wouldn't hold it against you," he replied, and she began to look for any discrepancy to his sincerity, but he appeared to be very sincere, and she then started to sigh for a long moment.

"I've worked too hard to throw it all away for a night of passion, Bryce, with _anyone_. Nobody in _the_ Regiment would respect me any more, and I would lose all of their respect that I have earnt if I go around sleeping with their mates," she declared, and he began to smile sympathetically at her.

"I wouldn't like to be in your shoes in being the first female in _the_ Regiment. It must be hard," he stated.

She nodded. "It is," she said as her glance shifted away from Bryce, and she began to gaze over at Chuck from where he was standing with Cole and John...

**A short while later**

"Last orders, ladies and gents," Jim declared to the pub, and Red Team immediately began to groan with a loud complaint over his declaration.

"Oh Jim, why would you have to give us the last orders? We are enjoying ourselves so much you bastard," Dan stated and the rest of his team quickly drunkenly agreed with their comrade.

"Sorry gents and ladies. Rules are rules," Jim said.

"Rules are boring," John Murray slurred drunkenly.

"And made to be broken," Chuck interjected, and his entire team sharply agreed.

"Not mine, or else I'll lose my license! So, what will it be then?" Jim asked as he began to take the last orders...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Red Team had now departed from the pub after finishing their last order, and for all of them except Cole and Jamie Hughes, they were feeling very deflated because of the abrupt end of their evening.

All six of the comrades were quite merry and drunk right now, and they were all laughing away and closely joined together.

"You lucky bastards," Jamie Hughes declared enviously to his team, and they all began to burst into laughter.

"Sorry, fella," John Murray slurred sympathetically, and he struggled to pronounce his words.

"Better you than me," Dan said, which caused the rest of the drunken teammates to strongly agree.

"Yeah, rub it in why don't you?" Jamie Hughes said.

"At least I'm going home to a lovely lass. Unlike you," Cole then said, as he glanced at both Bryce and John to get some payback over some of his team laughing at him.

"And I'm going home to a shit marriage," the drunk Staff Sergeant declared which caused all of the team to begin to groan in complaint.

"Thanks for ruining the mood, Chris, you bastard!" Chuck said with discontent, and the rest of the team sharply agreed.

"Yeah, you could have waited to state that until me, Chuck, Bryce and Sarah have all cleared off," Cole said as the team all began to laugh.

"Well, enjoy your curry," Bryce said, looking at Chris, John, Jamie and Dan.

"Thank you, Speedy Gonzales, we will," John Murray replied, and Red Team suddenly erupted with roaring laughter once more.

It took nearly a minute for the laughter to die down between the comrades, and the team all then began to say their final farewells to each other before they began to split off into two groups of four leaving just Chuck, Sarah, Bryce and Cole outside the pub.

"Are you ready to head back then?" Cole asked, glancing around his three teammates, and they all drunkenly nodded and smiled warmly at him.

The group of four all then entered into Cole's vehicle, and he dropped them off one by one until returning to his own home in a cheerful loving mood due to the close comradeship of his dearest friends and brothers in arms…

**End of Chapter**

**AN3** Next Chapter: Chuck and Sarah visit the apartment that she is looking to rent and much, much more! Including a certain teaser that I have already teased twice. But have it a third time!

"I don't do this very often. But... Do you want to come in?" Sarah asked as she gazed at her teammate with a lustful smile...

I wonder who Sarah has asked inside her new home? And will they even accept her invitation? Find out, in Chapter 8!

**AN4 **It's the Christmas season! Stop being scrooges and refusing to leave reviews! Or Santa won't visit you!


	8. Chapter 8

**AN1** I feel bad for Jill in this fiction. I don't like the character, but I can state without any hesitation that if my boyfriend/fiance/husband spent his life working in a covert job and was missing for days on end then coming home and not being able to talk about what he'd done and him spending more time with his friends than in the company of myself, then his ass would be getting ditched quicker than I have ever done anything before. To be honest, in my opinion, it's Chuck who is treating Jill wrong and not Jill that's treating Chuck bad. It's hard for somebody in the military to date somebody not in it. It's probably the hardest job to maintain a relationship and a normal life in (at least in my opinion). On the flip side though, just like Chuck told her in Chapter 6, she did know what she signed up for once she got with him, so if she suddenly no longer likes or accepts the situation that they are in, then she should just move on, right? RIGHT? (I'm expecting you die-hard Charah shippers to be shouting RIGHT! Right now!)

**AN2** It's fast approaching decision time as to whether I keep this T rated or change it to M rated. I'm starting to lean towards making it mature. I think it is now certain that I'm not going to gain a more significant readership by keeping this at T rated and I like this story too much to drop it. So if you are still interested in seeing when updates get posted, I would advise you to follow the story so that you get notifications of new chapters. Because otherwise, you will have to keep altering your search when visiting fanfiction to include the hidden M rated stories if or when I change the rating. I will only ever change a story into a mature format if I feel it needs it to tell the story better. I will NEVER turn a long story into an M rated fiction so that I can type out the sex. Like All Roads Lead Back Home, which I have just freshly made mature-rated, Who Dares Wins is a story that I feel can tell better if I show the reader just where Chuck and Sarah's intimacy is actually at with each other. Who Dares Wins Chuck and Sarah is a very complicated situation, and just because I am suggesting that intimacy is going to occur, please do not expect smooth sailing in their relationship as soon as it happens because I can tell you right now that it's _not _going to go down like that — far from it! Chuck and Sarah are going to have to work very hard to be together for this _entire_ fiction, and we're talking a 40-50-60 chapter story. I just feel I must let the reader know how this story will be if I'm to commit to writing out those 40-50-60 chapters as I am seeing some people starting to use 'falling for' already and I would advise caution for that at the moment :)

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

"I feel like crap," Bryce declared to Red Team who were all gathered outside of the Killing House for training exercises.

Bryce's sudden declaration caused some of his teammates, including Sarah to laugh because Sarah wasn't feeling too well herself right now after Red Team's activities at the pub together the previous night. Sarah didn't usually drink as much as she had last night, but she had, had a fantastic evening with her teammates. However, despite her activities the previous night, Sarah and the rest of her team were now completely focused on her job once more and the task in hand which was to continue their Close Quarters Battle training and to assault the Killing House.

"You piss-heads shouldn't have drunk so much then, should you?" Cole said as he glanced around the team. Cole along with Jamie Hughes were the only two of members of Red Team who didn't end up drunk last night because they had driving duties and so they could only have two pints of lager each.

"Can I play the role of the hostage with Bryce? Because I feel like crap also," John Murray asked, which caused the team to burst into laughter as most of them also began to shake their heads in approval.

"No. Cole and Jamie are playing the hostages today. Us six drunken bastards will be assaulting," Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated to his team which caused most of Red Team to gasp and wince except for Cole and Jamie Hughes, who were both very much looking forward to seeing their teammates suffer. Call it some payback for last night.

"Oh, Chris, you callous bastard!" John Murray said, which quickly caused the team to laugh together once more as heads began to nod in agreement.

"Right, let's gear up. We'll be assaulting Room 2A through the windows using explosive entry. Chuck, Bryce, Sarah and John, you'll be scaling the ladders, and you will blow out the windows with shaped charges while myself and Dan will make a feint assault through the ground floor. Let's do this," Staff Sergeant MacDonald commanded, and the team nodded as they got to work and they began to gear up to prepare the exercise…

**A few minutes later**

Red Team were now all in position at the sophisticated training facility. Cole Barker and Jamie Hughes had been secured and restrained inside Room 2A whilst Chris and Dan were in place to make a feint assault on the ground floor, Bryce and John were in position to assault window two of Room 2A, while Chuck and Sarah were in position to assault window one of Room 2A.

The explosives to blow out the windows were all set, and Sarah was standing just behind Chuck as Sarah and the rest of her team waited for the command given to assault.

"Standby. Standby. Execute!" Captain Wallace, who was commanding the exercises that would take place today, came onto comms.

With the order now given to execute, the shaped charges on windows one and two of Room 2A detonated, and the windows blew out as Chuck began ascending the ladder and Sarah quickly followed on behind her teammate. Chuck prepared a flashbang, and he lobbed it into the room through the window, and he was inside the room in an instant. Sarah quickly scaled up after him, and she entered inside the room as Chuck began to engage the first target in sight. In Sarah's view inside the room was a second target, and she lined up her MP5, and she began to engage the static target before she shifted her gaze to the right where she noticed Bryce and John were also now inside Room 2A, and they were engaging two other targets inside the room. Sarah then shifted her glance back to the left of her, and she watched as Chuck lined up his rifle, and he shot out the TV in the room which was showing something related to Manchester United. She immediately smirked at her teammate's humour, when suddenly, she heard Bryce say, "You bastard!" towards Chuck which caused her smirk to extend to suppressed laughter instead as she quickly continued on with her tasking, and she took out her knife, and she began to cut the binds from around Jamie Hughes before immediately replacing them with plasticuffs, and she instantly began to drag her comrade out of the room. Chuck quickly followed on behind her, accompanied by Cole, who Chuck was dragging out of the room. The assaulters then linked up with Chris and Dan who had secured the top of the stairwell, and the team of eight quickly rushed outside to complete the exercise…

**A few minutes later**

Some of the support and logistics personnel of 22 Reg had arrived at the Killing House, and they were already beginning to remove the broken objects and targets from Room 2A. Room 2A would be refurbished by the support personnel to assault again at some point within the next 24 hours. One of the support personnel was now carrying out a destroyed television set, which caused immediate laughter amongst the team except for Bryce.

"Alright, who shot the TV?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked as he glanced around the team with a smirk looking for the culprit which caused Sarah to snicker as she knew precisely who it was that shot out the TV.

"He did!" Bryce said with venom as he began to point at Chuck, which caused the whole team to laugh.

"Why?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked Chuck.

"It was Man United. I'd sooner be tortured by the Taliban than watch them shite!" Chuck retorted nonchalantly, and most of the team except for Bryce began to nod and chuckle approvingly.

"Fair enough," MacDonald said in acceptance.

"I'll remember this! And if I see Liverpool, then the same is happening to you!" Bryce said with conviction.

"Who says I support Liverpool?" Chuck retorted with a straight face.

"Well it's either the Scousers, Leeds United or Manchester City if you hate United and I doubt it's the latter two because of your posh Cheshire accent," Bryce said.

"Fair enough. Well then yeah, I do happen to support the greatest football club in the world, Liverpool FC," Chuck declared, and Jamie Hughes nodded in approval whilst most of the other members of Red Team, including Sarah, began to shake their heads in complete disagreement.

"Watch it, Chuck. You know that the greatest club in world football is Newcastle United," Big Dan said in his Geordie accent.

"Big Dan meant to say Glasgow Rangers," John Murray interjected in his Glaswegian accent.

"Did I fuck!" Big Dan said in total disagreement with his comrade.

"You're all wrong actually. The best club in the world is Chelsea," Sarah said in her posh, London accent, and every single member of her team began to wince and look at her in complete disgust.

"Yuck! Sarah, that's disgusting! I think you should join the SBS effective immediately. We can't have you here any more," Chuck said with a straight face.

"Agreed," the rest of her team quickly followed on, and she looked at them all smugly.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Later that day**

Red Team had just clocked off duty for the day, and Chuck was preparing to take Sarah to the apartment that she was looking to lease. Chuck had just arrived outside his teammate's on-base accommodation in the barracks housing their squadron, and he raised his hand to the door to knock, and he awaited a response. Usually, he would just enter if it was one of the guys, but because his new teammate so happened to be female, he was trying hard to change his ways and his manners to be more accommodating just in case she was presently half-naked because she was changing. It would have been no big deal to see one of his male teammates without a shirt on, but he was pretty sure that if he saw Sarah without a shirt on, then that wouldn't be a very wise idea at all because he didn't know how he would react to that!

"Come in," she called out to him, and he immediately entered inside.

"Hi," he greeted his teammate with a warm, loving grin.

"Hey," she replied as she returned his smile.

"Are you ready to head to see the apartment then?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks again for this, Chuck," she said as she held her loving smile, and he continued his grin at her.

"Sarah, it's no problem at all," he said sincerely.

Still holding her smile on-toward him, she moved to stand, and they departed her quarters together.

"Though if I had have known you were a Chelsea fan, I wouldn't have offered in a million years," he couldn't resist adding in more playful banter, and he started to laugh at his own words, and she suppressed a laugh.

"Well it's too late now, you have already offered," she said with a loving smile.

He shook his head. "It's not too late. I could leave you hanging," he continued in his attempts to wind her up.

"If you did, then I would kick your ass," she said in a playful tone of her own.

"In your dreams!" Chuck retorted, rolling his eyes at her.

"I could take you," she said confidently to him, and he furiously began to shake his head in disagreement.

"Do you want to bet? You're welcome to try," he retorted in a confident tone of his own with a wide grin.

"I'm sorry to have accepted your invitation to be your friend now anyway, with you being a Scouser and all," she teased, and he began to wince.

"Sarah, I'm from Cheshire, not Merseyside," he informed her.

"There's not much difference," she argued back playfully with a wide smirk.

He furiously shook his head, and he began fighting off the urge to smirk. "There is, actually, there is a big gigantic difference. In fact, I'm now gonna take you to both counties one day, and you'll see the difference."

"What if I don't wanna go?" she asked as they remained idle in the hallway of the barracks as they gazed at and engaged in banter with each other.

"That's tough. I'll tie you up and force you to," he teased as they began to depart the barracks and they headed over to Chuck's car.

Sarah scoffed playfully before responding, "Some teammate you are."

"I could say the same about you. You're either mocking me or threatening to beat me up. Tell me, Sarah, are you always this hostile?" he asked, furthering the exchange.

"Only to people I don't like," she said with her continued wide smirk slash smile, and he winced.

"Just hurry up and get in the car before I run you over!" he declared, and the teammates continued their grins and their glances at each other as they climbed into Chuck's car...

**A short while later**

Chuck pulled his car to a stop inside the premises containing the apartment that Sarah was looking to lease within walking distance of the City Centre of Hereford.

"Oh my, it's beautiful," Chuck declared as his eyes connected onto a converted Victorian-era building that was now modern apartments.

Sarah beamed him a loving smile. "Wait until you see inside," she said with a glint of happiness in her eye as the two teammates depart Chuck's car and they walked over to a waiting estate agent that Sarah had contacted and agreed to meet at 5:30.

"Hello," the young, black-haired female estate agent greeted them with a warm smile.

"Hi," Sarah said as she returned the warm smile.

"Hiya," Chuck replied as he did the same.

"I assume you are Sarah?" the estate agent asked, glancing at Sarah.

Sarah nodded, holding her smile.

"And you are?" the estate agent shifting her attention to Chuck asked.

"Chuck," he greeted her warmly.

"It's nice to meet you both. I'm Rebecca," the estate agent said, and the three young adults shared another warm smile. "So, will you both be renting this together?" she asked, and Chuck and Sarah immediately turned awkward and fidgety, and they began to laugh nervously.

"No. We aren't together. It's just for me," Sarah laughed, and Chuck furiously nodded his head.

"Yeah, we're just friends and work colleagues," Chuck added in, and Sarah also nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I assumed you both were an item," Rebecca said with a warm smile.

"It's ok," Sarah said reassuringly.

"I've had far worse assumptions made at me," Chuck joked, and the two women began to laugh.

"So have I," Rebecca said as she began to smirk.

"Me too," Sarah also added in.

"I'll take you up to the apartment now. It's up on the first floor (one story above ground)."

"Ok, thanks," Sarah replied.

Chuck and Sarah began to follow Rebecca inside the converted Victorian era property.

"This building is a former hospital. It was a hospital for eye disorders," Rebecca stated to Chuck and Sarah as they began to head up the stairs to the first floor.

"Yeah, I could see the engraving above the entrance," Sarah said, and Chuck nodded.

The two teammates and the attractive estate agent then arrive upstairs on the first floor.

"What line of work are you both in if I may ask?" Rebecca asked.

"Army," Sarah replied with a smile, and Chuck nodded affirmatively.

"Oh, I see," Rebecca said as she paused and she began to glance at them with a look of respect as she likely knew just which Regiment they were both serving in...

"Yeah, she's the bossy sergeant," Chuck joked, and Sarah moved to swat his arm as the three adults continued to be friendly with each other.

"Are you sure you're both not an item?" Rebecca asked them once more as she continued to smile at them both.

"Positive," Chuck responded with a nod of his head.

"Yep, I could never date a Scouser," Sarah teased with a loving smile, and she rotated her glance between Chuck and Rebecca.

"Ouch!" Chuck winced as he also rotated his glance between Sarah and Rebecca.

"Actually, that's a Cheshire accent, not a Liverpudlian one," Rebecca interjected.

"Oh, thank you! See, Sarah, in your face!" Chuck retorted, which caused the three adults to laugh once more.

"Well here we are then," Rebecca declared as they came to a stop outside of Apartment 8. "I would offer to give you a tour, but I have had the pleasure of finding a home for a few members of your Regiment over the years, and I know and understand that you like to be in your own company and to do things yourselves, so I will leave you both to it," the friendly estate agent declared.

"Thank you," Sarah replied with a warm gaze.

Chuck nodded while also glancing at the estate agent with a friendly demeanour.

Rebecca then began to open up the door to the apartment, and Sarah stepped inside, followed by Chuck. On entering inside and into the entrance hall, their gaze connected onto four doors leading to the rooms of the apartment.

"This should be the bathroom if my bearing of the plan I saw when searching online is correct," Sarah stated, and she moved to open the door a few steps to the right of where they were standing. Sarah then entered inside, and Chuck followed in behind.

"That's a lot of tiles," Chuck declared on coming into contact with a lot of cream coloured tiles all over the floor and walls of the bathroom.

Sarah paused from her apartment viewing to glance behind herself, and she began to smile at him. "It's small, but a bathroom is exactly that, a bathroom," Sarah joked, and Chuck suppressed a laugh and nodded.

"It looks very modern. I like it," Chuck stated.

"You've seen nothing yet," she retorted, holding her smile and gaze.

"Stop making me jealous!" Chuck shooted back and Sarah began to laugh in approval.

The teammates then depart the bathroom, and they proceed to walk a few steps until they arrive at the next door, and Sarah moves to open it, and Chuck follows her inside as their gaze connected onto a large open plan living space. The first half of the plan was the kitchen, and the entire floor was black tiled with marble counters and wooden cupboards all over. The second half of the plan contained the living room, which was cream carpeted, and the walls and ceiling were a matching colour.

"Sarah, I want to live here! I might rent it instead of you!" Chuck declared, and Sarah paused from her viewing as she turned back to face him once more, and she began to glare daggers at her comrade.

"Chuck, if you steal this place from me then I will hurt you," Sarah declared with conviction.

"It's worth it," he retorted, teasingly.

"Chuck, don't you even think about it!" Sarah warned as she pointed her finger at him, and the two teammates then walked deeper into the open plan as they began to inspect the kitchen which came with appliances already waiting for use.

"I wonder how much rent they will charge me for this," Chuck said, continuing his winding up of Sarah.

"Chuck, keep it up, and you will have an accident at work tomorrow," she retorted as she continued to give an intimidating stare towards her teammate.

"Ouch, you're not playing, are you?" he asked.

"I'm glad you got the message," she retorted. "This is my apartment. Nobody else's!" she declared with conviction.

"What about sharing? What if we share it?" he asked as he danced his eyebrows at her and she smirked.

"I'm not apartment sharing with a Scouser," she retorted with a wide grin.

"Keep it coming, Sarah. I'll get you back for this," he said with conviction. "I'm very patient, and I'm very good at biding my time."

Sarah giggled at his words, and they departed from the kitchen space and towards the living space.

"Chuck, don't you dare walk on my carpet in those shoes!" Sarah stated to him as she pointed at his shoes with a wide smirk, and he put his hand on his heart.

"That's it; we're finished. In work tomorrow, I want you to put in for a transfer to air, boat or mountain troop instead," he retorted as he pointed his finger at her and he gave her a menacing stare.

"No thanks, I'm happy where I am," Sarah retorted with a joyful giggle.

"Then I'll transfer instead!" Chuck shooted back as he continued to point at her.

"And I'll join you because I'm having too much fun getting under your skin to allow you to leave," she retorted as she continued to giggle joyfully.

"Why oh why did they ever put you in mobility troop?" Chuck asked as he shook his head, and he raised his hands into the air, and he looked up at the ceiling, and he shook his fists.

"Because I'm the best," she declared with a wide smile.

"Yeah, in your dreams, missy!" Chuck laughed out, and she giggled once more.

"For that, it's time to look at the bedrooms to make you even more jealous," she declared with her continued joyful smile.

He shook his head as he also moved his hand from side to side to reinforce his point. "No thanks, I'm done. No more viewing for me. You can do that yourself."

"What if there's a hostile in one of the bedrooms and Al-Qaeda are waiting to kidnap me. I need my teammate to back me up," she teased.

"They can have you! I'll sit and watch! I might even help them actually!" he retorted as he began to chuckle.

Sarah gasped at his words. "See! I always knew there was something sinister you were hiding! Chuck Bartowski, a closet terrorist!" she said with her continued wide smile.

"Now that you know my secret, I'm gonna have to kill you!" Chuck declared as he lunged at her, and she dodged it as she giggled, and she quickly rushed off towards the two bedrooms, and Chuck followed as the two teammates entered the guest bedroom first.

"The guest bedroom," Sarah declared, and Chuck nodded on them arriving inside of the room.

"Did you need a two-bedroom apartment though, Sarah?" Chuck asked, and Sarah looked behind her and at him once more.

"I didn't like the look of any one-bed apartments plus my family can stay over," she declared.

"And the team can stay over. You'll have to rename it _Red Team's Bedroom_'," Chuck joked.

Sarah frowned, shaking her head. "Really, Chuck? You really think seven of you can fit in here?" she asked.

He nodded. "Sure, that would be easy. No problem at all," he joked, and she smirked at him.

"Besides, with how loud you all are, I would be kicked and turfed out just as soon as I move in. The team are never coming in here!" Sarah laughed to him, and he winced and shook his head once more.

"Oof, wait until I snitch on you and tell them what you've just said!" he teased.

"They won't believe you," she retorted as she shook her head.

"I can be convincing," he responded as he danced his eyebrows at her.

"I can be even more convincing!" she laughed back as she danced her own eyebrows and she began to smirk.

"Oh, so that's the way you want to play it," he responded, and she held her smirk at him.

Chuck and Sarah then departed the guest bedroom, and they entered into the master bedroom.

"Wow, I like it. It's the perfect size for me when I move in," Chuck joked, and Sarah gave him evil daggers once more.

"Ok, now you're pushing it, Chuck," she laughed to him.

"In fact, I'm going to Rebecca right now to tell her I'll take it," Chuck furthered the joke, and he turned away from Sarah, and he started walking before he watched his comrade dash in front of him blocking him from being able to exit the room and he smirked at her.

"Going somewhere?" she joked as she gazed into his eyes.

"Yeah, past you," he responded as he nodded his head.

"I'd like to see you try," she retorted.

"Here it comes, watch me," he retorted as he immediately walked into Sarah's proximity and the two teammates began to tussle and grapple with each other as Sarah immediately attempted to kick and sweep Chuck's leg to ground him onto the floor. He laughed it off, and he steadied his balance as the two teammates continued to grapple with each other's arms which was quite a mismatch for Sarah because Chuck was six-foot-three and he had incredible muscle definition all over from his eight years in the army compared to Sarah being five-foot-seven and having a more petite frame. Chuck managed to grab and pin Sarah against the wall with relative ease, and he smirked and chuckled into her face as the two teammates continued to tussle with each other against the wall of the apartment.

"Chuck, I know an easy way out of this, but I don't want to hurt you," Sarah declared as she glanced down his frame towards his pants because if being honest, her teammate's grip on her was too powerful and there was only one way for her to get out of this.

"Sarah, a knee to the nuts isn't gonna loosen this grip on you I can assure you," he responded, and she immediately sharply brought her knee up to him to connect onto his groin, and his grip suddenly loosened, and he began to screech in discomfort.

"Ow! Jesus!" he cried out as he removed his hands from Sarah and down to his crotch instead.

"You were saying?" she laughed approvingly at her actions and of his reaction though she did feel a bit bad for him because that must have hurt, but he had it coming!

"Sarah, christ!" Chuck complained as he shook his head in disgust at her.

"Chuck, I warned you," she continued to laugh as she watched her teammate bent over in pain though she was still grimacing inside as that must have hurt.

"Women have it so easy!" Chuck moaned out in discomfort from the knee he just took.

"Yeah, we do," she laughed.

"Can you ring me an ambulance?" he asked from where he was still bent over.

"Don't be a baby!" Sarah laughed to him.

"Sarah, you try getting kicked in the nuts!" he retorted as he took in a sharp breath.

"Chuck, I told you I didn't want to hurt you. All you had to do was let me go," she laughed to him once more.

"Sarah, rather than kneeing people in the nuts, you should learn how to grapple better!" Chuck retorted.

"Chuck, if I were your height, I wouldn't need to," she responded as she continued to laugh at that fun exchange they had just had together.

On Chuck recovering enough from the knee to the nuts, they continued with the final part of their viewing of Sarah's new apartment as they entered the en suite bathroom together.

"Oh, wow!" they both declared in unison.

"Sarah, you found a nice place," Chuck said as they gazed at each other once more.

"Thanks," she responded affectionately.

"So are you going to take it then?" he then asked.

She nodded her head. "Oh, for sure. As soon as I saw the open-plan, it confirmed it," she said with a smile.

"Well, you picked a good choice. I'm sure and know that the rest of the team would and will all say the same if or when they see it," Chuck said as they began to smile at each other again.

"Chuck, you have a nice home too," Sarah said sincerely to him.

They smiled at each other as Chuck then replied, "Thank you. We should probably check in with Rebecca again. I'm not sure how long we have been in here."

She nodded. "Yeah. Good idea," she said, holding her smile.

The two teammates began to depart the en suite bathroom followed by the master bedroom, and they returned to the entrance, before they began to depart the apartment once more.

"Do you find the apartment to your suiting?" the friendly estate agent asked Sarah.

Sarah smiled before responding, "I do. I want it."

Rebecca returned the smile. "Great."

"I want it too. And I'm prepared to pay more than Sarah to get it," Chuck joked, and Sarah gave him evil daggers once more.

"First come first served I'm afraid," Rebecca replied with a loving smile.

"And I thought we were friends," Chuck retorted in mock hurt, and the three adults shared laughter together.

"So would you like to move ahead with the paperwork then?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes please," Sarah said with a vibrant smile.

"Great, if you'd like to follow me," Rebecca stated.

Chuck and Sarah began to follow Rebecca as Sarah then started to complete the necessary paperwork to take on the lease…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah put down the pen that she had used to fill out the required paperwork to take over the lease of the apartment, and she was now free to move in whenever she chose. Once Sarah had arranged for her belongings to be driven over by her mother and sister, she was looking at around five days from now.

"Well, that's all finalized. Enjoy your new home, and if you have any questions at all, then you have the details of the landlord," Rebecca stated with a loving smile to Sarah, and she proceeded to hand over the keys to the main entrance of the building and also the keys to the door of Apartment 8.

"Thank you so much for your help," Sarah said with a loving smile.

"That's no problem at all. It's what I'm here for," Rebecca replied, and Sarah held her smile toward the friendly estate agent.

"Are you all done for the day now?" Chuck asked Rebecca.

The estate agent furiously shook her head, and with a wide smile, she said, "Oh lord no. I still have another three more viewings to attend."

A sympathetic smile took shape on both teammate's faces. "Wow," Sarah said.

"Yeah. My life isn't exciting as both of yours; I'm sure, but it pays the bills," the friendly estate agent declared.

"Yeah, and that's what matters most," Chuck said with a loving grin.

"Exactly," Rebecca replied. "Well, enjoy both of your evenings and Sarah once more, your new home."

"Thank you," Sarah said, holding her smile.

"Thanks. You too," Chuck said.

"Thank you. Bye," Rebecca said as she began to wave farewell.

"Bye," Chuck and Sarah respond to the young and friendly black haired estate agent.

"She was lovely," Sarah stated on watching the estate agent enter into her Ford Focus.

"Yeah, she was," Chuck agreed as they turned to face each other, and they met each other's gaze.

"Do you fancy a drink?" Sarah asked as she began to smile.

He shook his head as a smile of sympathy began to form.

"Is this you getting me back for earlier?" she asked, playfully.

"No, my way of getting you back will be much more sophisticated than refusing your offer of a drink," he paused to grin, and she snickered. "It's just that Jill has been guilt-tripping me for weeks, so I need to spend some time with her instead tonight."

She smiled at him. "Chuck, you don't need to explain yourself I was just playing. Thank you for bringing me here."

He returned her smile. "Sarah, you're welcome and how about a rain check for the drink until another time?"

She nodded whilst holding her warm glance. "Sure."

"Thank you. I'll drop you off at base now and if you need my help for anything at all just ask me at work or ring me out of work and I'll try and fit you in even though I know you're not gonna call me anyway," he declared.

"Who says I won't?" she asked as a smirk crept through her lips.

"Well, you haven't so far. I've now come to the assumption that you're not good in asking others for help," he declared with a faint smile, and she nodded.

"You're right. I'm not. I'm used to doing things on my own. Nobody has ever wanted to help me. Get in my pants, sure, help me, no," she laughed to him, and he smiled sympathetically at her.

"Well Sarah, for your information, I want to help you. And I can categorically state that I don't want to get into your pants. I'm helping you because you're my teammate, nothing else I can assure you," he stated sincerely, and she suppressed a laugh as she gazed into his eyes.

"Why? Am I not attractive enough and you prefer brunettes instead?" she teased with a loving grin as she continued to gaze at him.

He did a double-take before asking, "Are you for real?"

She nodded affirmatively, and she continued her warm smile.

"Well then, in that case, you're right. You are totally unattractive," he declared with a straight face, and she immediately did a double-take, and she began to look at him in shock.

Suddenly, he began to burst into laughter, and he quickly stated, "I'm just playing! You should see your face! I told you I would get you back for your teasing of me!"

Sarah instantly moved to swat her hand into his chest. "Jesus! I thought you were serious!" she paused as she shook her head at her teammate, and he continued laughing. "I'm not gonna lie, that really affected my ego and my confidence. I've not had somebody tell me I'm unattractive before. I was ready to burst into tears," she admitted with a wide smile.

"Sarah, I could tell," he laughed, and she began to fight the urge to laugh with him once more. "But for the record, you're beautiful, and I still can't believe you're single."

She smiled at her teammate's compliment, and she continued to stare at him. "Thank you. I've just not met the right guy yet..."

**A short while later**

Chuck fired down the engine to his vehicle on the driveway to his home. After dropping Sarah off at their base, he returned straight home. Departing his car in a happy mood, he locked his car, and he began to walk up the driveway, and he took out his house keys as he did so. Arriving at the door, he placed his keys into the lock, and he quickly entered inside. On entering, he closed the door behind him, when his long term girlfriend appeared in view.

"You're home early," she declared.

He nodded. "Yeah, no mission today, I was just helping out Sarah, my teammate, with some house hunting, and then I rushed back so that we could go and do something ourselves," he admitted, and he watched on as his girlfriend turned joyful and a wide smile formed, and she rushed to hug him.

"Chuck, thank you..."

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**The next day**

Chuck returned to his home after completing another day of training exercises with his team. He wasn't staying long at his home, though, because he had offered to drive Sarah to London so that she could pick up her car, and Cole had also offered out that same curtsy to Bryce to pick up his own wheels that were Manchester. These offers of help were longstanding regimental traditions, and they had been occurring for decades between teammates in 22 Reg as its members came from all parts of the UK and getting to and from Hereford wasn't easy in just a few hours without your transports. Chuck exited his car, and he noted his girlfriend waving out of the living room window at him before she disappeared from view and she quickly appeared at the front door, and she greeted him affectionately with an embrace.

"Hi," she said inside the embrace.

"Hi," he responded warmly.

"You're home early again. No mission today either?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. But I can't stay," he paused to smile sympathetically, and his girlfriend backed away from the embrace, and her joy turned into despair. "I just came back to spend a few minutes with you and to apologize because I'm going to be back quite late tonight as I'm driving over to London."

"Chuck, why the hell are you going to London?" she asked as she shook her head in frustration.

He smiled sympathetically. "Jill, when I joined _the_ Regiment, Cole drove me to Warrington to pick up my previous car," he started.

"And what does that have to do with why you're now driving to London tonight?" she asked.

"I've now made that same offer to Sarah. I'm driving her to London to pick up her car, and then I'm coming straight back," he admitted.

She began to shake her head in anger once more.

"For god sake, Chuck! I am getting sick of regimental traditions coming between us! That's all I hear from you! Regimental tradition this, regimental tradition that!" she said as her frustration began to boil over.

"Jill, stop it. I don't need this crap! We had a great night yesterday, and we spent the whole evening together,"

She interrupted him, "Wow, mind how you go, Chuck! My friends spend most of the entire week with their partners, not just one evening!"

Chuck's gaze lowered to the floor in sadness. He didn't like seeing people upset, especially not his girlfriend who he did feel strong feelings for but Jill knew what she signed up for when she asked to move in with him. Their relationship had started off brilliantly, and it had blossomed for quite some time, but it all began to turn sour once she had moved in with him, and it had been rocky and troubled for some time now.

"Cole is driving Bryce to get his car too, and Sophie isn't complaining about it," Chuck argued.

"Well, maybe, she should!" Jill said as she continued to shake her head in disapproval over feeling ignored and neglected.

"Jill, life isn't easy for those who date servicemen or women; I get it. And I am sorry that you are in this situation and that you are evidently unhappy in it, truly, I am," he paused as he attempted to make strong eye contact with her, but she ignored his attempts. "But you knew who I was and what I am once we got together. It's not like I hid it from you. I told you who I was from day one. And I'm not prepared to change or to give up my career. I love my job," he declared passionately.

"At least we know where we stand then," she responded distantly to him.

"Yeah, I guess we do," he responded as he nodded his head...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck pulled up his car outside the barracks housing his squadron on base. After the earful and having had Jill down his throat and guilt-tripping him, he didn't feel like the long six-hour return journey any more. But he had already promised his teammate, and he was not one to break or go back on his promises.

Sarah was already waiting for him. He had phoned Sarah a few minutes previously to let her know that he was on his way quite simply because of his pissed off mood, and the last thing he wanted to be doing was to be walking through their barracks and having to engage in numerous conversations with his comrades right now because it was not fair on them to see him in a wound-up state.

Sarah smiled at him as she walked up to the passenger door, and he nodded to acknowledge her. She then entered into the front passenger side of the car.

"Hi," she greeted him, holding her smile.

"Hi," he responded in a frustrated tone, and he began to sigh.

"You seem a bit pissed off since I saw you an hour ago. Is everything ok?" she asked him, still holding her smile on-toward him.

He sighed once more, and he took a moment as he attempted to curb his present frustration. "I've just had Jill on my back for doing this," he admitted.

Her smiled lessened to a sympathetic once, and the teammates continued to gaze at each other. "Chuck, I'm sorry. You can cancel if you want. I won't mind," she said, sincerely.

Chuck shook his head before responding, No, it's fine."

She continued her smile at him as she said, "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I am."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly as she continued her warm gaze.

He shook his head, dismissively. "Not really," he admitted.

She nodded. "Ok," she said as she continued her smile and she moved to put her seatbelt on, and the two teammates began their long journey together…

**A short while later**

Chuck and Sarah were almost halfway through their journey to London. And Chuck had cooled down a lot since he had first picked Sarah up ninety minutes ago.

"Sarah, I'm sorry for being a bit narky on arriving to pick you up," he stated, glancing at her.

"Chuck, it's ok. I get why. If I had someone down my throat, trust me, you wouldn't like to see my reaction," she joked.

He laughed for an extended moment at her comment. "Yeah, after that kick in the nuts from you yesterday, I definitely wouldn't," he teased.

She began to laugh, and a joyful smile took shape on her face. "I'm sorry about that. I was just playing with you."

He smiled at her before admitting, "Sarah, it's fine. It didn't hurt that much. I was just making a meal out of it for your sympathy."

She shook her head in disapproval as her vibrant smile remained. "Oh, I see how it is. It's becoming a habit of you playing injured with me," she retorted playfully.

Chuck glanced to the left of him briefly to query her comment, "Huh?" he asked.

"The Killing House on my first day," she retorted.

"Oh!" he paused to glance at her once more. "Sarah, I'm sorry about that, but it's just our operating procedure. You don't stop for a man down."

She began to nod. "But how can you just walk away from your friends on the ground bleeding to death though, Chuck?" she asked, and he glanced at her once more.

"Sarah, believe me, it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life, but it's the right policy. If we pause from the engagement to help them, then there is a genuine chance that the person who stops can be lit up and maybe other teammates too. If you can't come to terms with it, then you are in the wrong Regiment," he stated sympathetically, and the two teammates shared a smile.

"You asked me a few days ago if I regretted joining _the_ Regiment," Sarah started, and she waited for him to inquire before continuing.

"Yeah?" he inquired.

"I think I love it, Chuck. I feel like I belong here," she declared, and he glanced at her once more, and they shared another warm smile.

"You sound like me!" he declared affectionately, and the two teammates began to share laughter…

**A short while later**

_This is BBC Radio One with the news at eight. Eight days on from the devastating terrorist attack in London, we have now had the final figures of casualties and fatalities in the four terrorist incidents that occurred. Sadly, we can now confirm that one-hundred and twenty-one innocents of numerous nationalities lost their lives in the attack. With more than four-hundred injured and twenty-one are still in critical care. In other news directly related to the attack, the Home Office has downgraded the UK threat level from Critical, its highest level to Severe, its second-highest level. This change in the threat level means that another attack is highly likely, but no longer imminent..._

Chuck paused from listening to the radio, and he glanced at Sarah next to him. Sarah was gazing out of the windscreen, and she was now looking distressed and in a world of her own. She was fine before that news report that had just occurred, and Chuck knew that the events of what they saw, heard and did in London was still profoundly playing on his teammate's wellbeing.

Without any trail of thought to his actions, he removed his left hand from the wheel of his car, and he moved to comfortingly place his hand onto his teammate's right leg, just above her knee as he asked, "Are you ok?"

Sarah immediately snapped out of her gaze at the contact from him, and she darted her head to her right to glance at him instead in complete shock and surprise at the contact he had just made on her leg.

Chuck immediately removed his hand, and he shot his hand up into the air to apologize to her.

"Sarah, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that... I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking, actually," he said in shame, and he glanced at her whilst also doing his best to concentrate on driving at the same time.

Sarah began to move her arm, and she extended it out as she proceeded to do the exact same to him and she placed her hand halfway up his upper leg, and he immediately turned nervous at the contact. "Chuck, it's ok. Forget about it," she said, reassuringly, and she began to smile warmly at him as she removed her hand and he nodded at her before he continued with the final part of the drive...

**A short while later**

It had taken nearly three hours, but Chuck and Sarah had just arrived outside of Sarah's mother's home. Back in Hereford, Sarah had given Chuck her mother's location, and it led them straight here via GPS.

"So, Kensington, huh?" Chuck asked.

She began to nod, and she smiled at him. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I always knew you were from a posh part of London because of your accent," he joked, and she sighed, and she shook her head at him with a warm smile. "Though I was opting for Mayfair in honesty."

"You can talk. With your posh Cheshire accent," she retorted with a wide smile.

"So you finally admit that it's a Cheshire accent and not a Liverpudlian one!" he retorted back with a wide grin.

"Only to prove a point," she paused to smile at him once more. "The next time, it's back to you being a Scouser."

He winced once more. "I'm gonna drive off and leave you now," he retorted.

"That's fine," she laughed. "I'm already here now, and I can just drive back home myself."

He put his hand on his heart. "Sarah, this friendship isn't going to last if you keep being mean to me."

"Who says I want it to last?" she retorted playfully.

"What did I do to deserve a friend and a teammate like you?" he retorted.

"Yeah. You must have been a naughty boy to end up with me," she joked, and he laughed and nodded his head.

"Sarah, I'm a very good boy. I assure you. Somebody just doesn't like me that much," he responded, and she laughed sweetly at him.

"Come inside. I'll introduce you to my mum," she then said, and he nodded his head, and they shared a warm smile.

"Ok, now we're getting somewhere! This is what friends do!" Chuck declared enthusiastically.

"See, I'm not all bad!" she retorted with a loving smile.

"Yeah, you're 99% bad," he retorted with a smirk.

"Watch it, Chuck, or I'll beat your ass again as I did in my apartment!" she quipped back.

"That's just not true because you didn't," he replied.

She nodded her head. "I did."

He shook his head. "No, you didn't."

She nodded her head. "Yep, I did."

"We can throw down again if you want?" he asked, playfully.

She smirked before responding, "Sure, just make sure you wear kevlar in your groin first," as she began to laugh.

"That's a great idea! Then you'll have no knee left, and then you'll get benched, and I won't get any more abuse from you. Thanks for the idea, Sarah!" he responded with a grin.

"Shut up, Chuck," she said affectionately as the two teammates began to walk up the pathway to Sarah's mother's home and Sarah rang the doorbell, and they waited together in pause until they saw activity, and a middle-aged blonde lady opened the door.

"Hi, Mum," Sarah said affectionately, and the two women move to hug.

"Hi, Sarah," Emma replied inside the embrace, and her gaze connected onto Chuck and he smiled warmly at her.

Sarah then began to pull out of the embrace, and she turned to face him once more. "Mum, this is my teammate, Chuck. He drove me here. Chuck, this is my mum, Emma," Sarah declared, and Chuck nodded, and he smiled at both women.

"Hi, Emma. It's nice to meet you," Chuck said, gazing at his teammate's mother.

"Hi, Chuck. It's nice to meet you too," Emma said as she returned Chuck's warm gaze.

"You must be proud of your daughter, to be the first female in _the_ Regiment," Chuck said as he held his grin, and he shifted his glance between both women and Sarah emitted a radiant smile at him over his words of praise.

"Well, I would prefer she had a normal and safe job, and that she wasn't in harm's way, but it's her decision, and she is her own person. I am proud of her and her achievement, but it's not a career I would have chosen and I have already told her this numerous times," Emma stated truthfully.

Chuck laughed briefly with a nod of his head. "You sound a lot like my mother, and sister too actually. They didn't want me anywhere near the army never-mind _the_ Regiment," Chuck declared with a grin, and his teammate and her mother began to laugh.

"I think I would get along with them both," Emma said with a wide smile and Chuck nodded in agreement.

"Is Molly back yet?" Sarah suddenly asked, and Chuck glanced at both women.

"No, she's with her college friends," Emma declared, and Sarah began to nod.

"Chuck, Molly is my younger sister, by the way," Sarah declared, and Chuck nodded and smiled.

"Come on inside, both of you," Emma said, and Chuck nodded as he followed his teammate and her mother inside the home.

"Where are you from, Chuck?" Emma asked on them arriving inside her home.

"Warrington, Cheshire. Your daughter is winding me up. She has been calling me a Liverpudlian instead," Chuck joked as the three adults shared a smile and they all suppressed laughter.

"Don't mind her. She's a tease," Emma declared, and Chuck nodded.

"Yeah, I figured that," Chuck said as he gazed, and he smiled at Sarah, and she smiled back at him...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

"It was nice to meet you, Emma. I hope you have a great evening," Chuck stated on arriving at the entrance and exit of Emma's home.

"Thank you, Chuck. And I hope you do too," Emma said as she gave him a warm glance.

"Thanks," Chuck said as he nodded and smiled at Emma.

"Bye, Mum. I'll see you in a few days," Sarah stated, and the mother and daughter moved to embrace.

"Goodbye, darling. I'm looking forward to seeing your new apartment in person. Molly showed me some pictures of it, and it looks really nice," Emma declared.

"I like it. It's a bit expensive, but it's everything I want and need," Sarah said.

"Don't worry about the cost. If you need any help with anything like that, then just ask me," Emma said with an adoring smile.

"Mum…" Sarah protested, and Chuck watched the intimate exchange, and he began to feel like he was intruding on the private moment.

"Sarah, you're my daughter. Don't be afraid to ask for help," Emma said.

"Ok, Mum. But we should probably go. We still have to drive back, and it's almost nine already," Sarah declared.

Emma nodded, and Chuck and Sarah began to depart Emma's home.

"Bye then," Emma said as she bid her final farewells.

"Goodbye," Chuck said as he gazed at his teammate's mum a final time.

"Bye, Mum," Sarah replied, and Chuck and Sarah then began to walk towards their now two vehicles.

"Well, here's my car. It's not an Audi, but it suits me well," Sarah declared as she pointed at her Vauxhall Corsa D.

"Sarah, it's a good car. I like it," he declared.

"Thank you," Sarah said. "Though I am now feeling very tempted to get a Porsche just to have a better car than you."

"Sarah, if you do that, then I'm going to buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, because there's no way that I will ever allow you to get a better car than me," Chuck declared with conviction and Sarah giggled sweetly.

"Do you fancy a drink?" she asked as she gazed warmly at him.

"I'm supposed to head back," Chuck started, and he watched Sarah's gaze lower. "But screw it, it's not often I'm in London so why not?"

Sarah raised her gaze once more, and she smiled at her teammate. "Great. I know a bar. It's close, and we won't stay too long," she said.

Chuck nodded as he started walking to follow his teammate...

**End of Chapter**

**AN3** I'm not going to give teasers any more. I just can't seem to make the deadlines. Teasers force me into unnecessary pressure to deliver that specific content in the next chapter, and I'm starting to feel it limits my leeway and freedom to write the story. This chapter is 9,274 words, and the teaser that I have been showing for the last three chapters is still around 6,000 words away. It will likely occur next chapter, but we'll see. I just don't think I should give teasers any more :)

**AN4** Please leave your thoughts. I love to read your thoughts, and I'll see you in a few days for more Chuck and Sarah. The next chapter will mostly be Chuck and Sarah exactly like this one.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN1 **My thanks to Zettel for reaching out to me and offering me some constructive tips over where my writing is presently at. I will try to apply them to my fictions, moving forward. Actually, your help if you are reading this has made me want to collaborate with a beta moving forward. So, if any beta is reading this and would like to help me with this story, then please do reach out to me :)

**AN2 **If you are not a member of the Chuck fanfiction facebook group, then you will not have saw an inner battle that I'm fighting with myself with this fiction right now. Basically, I'm feeling tempted to cease publishing updates to Who Dares Wins. Chapter 8 was my longest chapter by more than 3,000 words, and it contained pretty much just ninety-nine percent Chuck and Sarah for the first time in the fiction so far, and _yet_ it is my joint lowest reviewed chapter of the story. I just can't seem to attract readers to engage with my story, and it's causing me to feel defeated almost to the point that I want to stop writing the story altogether. If I can't find readers to engage with this chapter and the rest of the story moving forward, then I will likely cease updates, and this will be the last chapter of this fiction that I post at least until I have completed the story offline in the coming six-twelve months. I may then return to post the completion of the story. Reading and writing fanfiction is a two-part relationship. As fanfiction authors, we don't get paid a dime for doing this and providing you with free entertainment. The only payment we get is _your_ interaction. If you enjoy reading the stories of any author on this website, then you should engage and interact with the story. Even if you engage with the story and it is just a 'thank you' because I think I can safely speak for almost every single author in stating that even just a small thank you goes a very long way and makes what we do worthwhile. Merry Christmas to you all, and if you don't celebrate it, Happy Holidays!

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

**London**

**United Kingdom**

Chuck and Sarah come to a stop from their short walk outside a bar together in the West End of London. This bar was on the doorstep of where Sarah grew up, and, once turning eighteen and old enough, she had visited it many times during her years before joining the army. Since joining the military five years ago, however, Sarah hadn't been able to return much. Her deployments with the Royal Green Jackets had kept her away. And, when not deployed, the RGJ Garrison was in Bulford, Salisbury, more than one-hundred miles from London.

"This bar is nice. But it's not as nice as the ones in Cheshire," Chuck joked as he entered, following Sarah.

Sarah glanced behind herself to smile at him before responding, "Yeah, it is. I used to come here a lot before the army."

"Wow, a real drunkard, huh?" Chuck joked, and Sarah swatted Chuck's arm.

"Watch it!" Sarah warned with a loving smile.

"Sarah, I'm getting a little concerned with your drinking activities. You seem to be asking me out daily since joining _the_ Reg. You're becoming a bad influence on me," he confided in her, pushing the joke.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, and she pointed her finger at her teammate, "Chuck, it was you who asked me out the first time! You didn't take no for an answer, and you even told the whole team I didn't want to go, plus_,_ you asked me to come the second time too, after Manchester!" she complained.

Chuck suppressed a laugh before responding, "Boy, do I regret that now."

Sarah shook her head, now recognizing that Chuck was just winding her up. "Shut up," she commanded with a smile as they then walked up to the counter of the bar.

"So, what are you having?" Sarah asked, retaining her smile.

Chuck's eyes widened at her question. "You're even buying! Wow, that's a first!" he declared with a wide grin, and Sarah shook her head at her teammate's continued teasing towards her.

"Chuck, you brought me here. It's the least I can do. You're not buying any of the rounds," she stated with a warm smile that Chuck returned.

"Well we can't have many anyway," Chuck reminded her, holding her gaze.

"We could always stay here and drive back early. My mum's house has four bedrooms. You could take a guest room," she suggested.

He shook his head. "Sarah, Jill would skin me alive," he declared, and Sarah laughed softly and nodded her head.

"You're right. I'm sorry. That was selfish. Perks of being single," she responded, and he nodded with sadness.

"Boy do I miss being single!" Chuck joked, causing Sarah to giggle.

"Your relationship can't be all that bad, though. Or you wouldn't still be with her," Sarah declared, and Chuck nodded.

"Sarah, it's not, at least not for me. I'm fine with, and I understand her frustrations. It can't be easy to date people like you or me. I know I wouldn't like it if the shoe was on the other foot and I would probably behave as Jill is behaving with me," he admitted.

Sarah nodded. "Chuck, I doubt you would be behaving like she is, but I can imagine it's not easy. I wouldn't like to date a soldier if I wasn't a soldier either," she admitted.

Chuck nodded. "Nor me. I think she's close to leaving, to be honest."

She smiled, sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

He smiled at her. "Sarah, don't be sorry. If she moves on, I'm cool with it. If she stays and can accept me for who I am, then I'm cool with that too. If it does happen, then it's just not meant to be," he responded as he shrugged it off.

She nodded at his response. "So, what are you having then?" she asked, changing the topic to a happier one.

"I'm having whatever you are having," he responded, and they shared a warm moment.

"In that case, vodka martinis then," she replied, grinning.

Chuck laughed before responding, "Sarah, we're in the SAS, not MI6."

Sarah giggled joyfully. "I became the first female in _the_ Regiment, so why not go for the jugular and become the first female secret agent," she joked and a full grin formed on Chuck's face.

"I always fancied myself to have a bit of a James Bond thing going on actually. I might switch jobs too so we can become partners," he replied as he raised his eyebrows at her, and Sarah giggled again.

**A short while later**

Chuck and Sarah began to depart from the bar, and they spent a few short minutes walking until they arrived back outside of Sarah's mother's where their two cars remained parked.

"Well Sarah, I wish we could have stayed longer, but if we had drunk too much and got caught driving whilst drunk, then we are RTU'd, and if we are late back in the morning, Chris would be all over us like a bad rash," Chuck declared, and Sarah nodded, and she began to laugh sweetly.

"You're right. Do you ever wish you were just a normal guy with a normal relationship and a normal job where you could drink as much as you wanted and go wherever you wanted?" she asked with a warm smile.

He shook his head before responding, "No. Do you?"

She also shook her head as she replied, "Nope."

On receiving a response from each other, they shared approving laughter.

"Are you ready to head back then?" Chuck asked.

Sarah nodded. "Yep."

"We can try to stay in convoy on the way home, but I doubt it's possible the entire three hours. You have a sat-nav, right?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," Sarah replied with a nod.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight then. It feels so weird saying that when we still have another three-hour drive ahead of us."

"You're right, it does," she admitted. "But just in case we don't talk any further tonight, goodnight, Chuck."

"Goodnight, Sarah," Chuck responded, and they shared a warm smile before they climbed into their cars, and they began their long journey back to Hereford…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Four days later**

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

_"YOU! IN THE BLACK COAT! STOP!" Sarah commanded as she trained her sights onto the spine of the woman she had just commanded to stop._

_"TURN AROUND!" she commanded, but the woman ignored her request._

_"I SAID TURN AROUND, OR SO HELP ME I'LL PUT ONE THROUGH YOU RIGHT WHERE YOU STAND!" Sarah commanded once more. And by now, her entire team were now also training their sights on the woman their teammate Bryce had just let pass..._

_A few seconds ticked by, and Sarah was becoming very nervous when slowly, the woman began to turn around. She was a few metres away from Sarah, Bryce, Chuck and Cole and also a few metres away from the vetted civilians over on the sidewalk in safety._

_On turning, the woman began to show her nerves by her body language and expressions, when suddenly, she raised her hand, and she squeezed the trigger in her hand which detonated her explosive device and blew her and everyone around her into a million little pieces..._

Sarah jolted awake as she drew in a sharp breath, and she began to pant, now feeling very tormented and distressed. The nightmare in Sarah's sleep had caused her to sweat profusely, and the bed in her quarters was soaked right through. She immediately began to sit up, and she threw the covers away from her, as she continued to pant in an attempt to end her torment and disorientation. Sarah had had a nightmare every single night for almost two weeks since she and her team confronted the terrorists rampaging in London around the area of London Bridge.

Sarah moved to stand, and she checked the clock in her quarters that read: 04:00. On completing her task, she gathered some things from her quarters, and she headed to the barracks' showers to attempt to clear her mind and freshen herself up. Departing from the barracks' showers sometime later, she changed into a pink long-sleeved shirt and black pants, and she headed to the on-base cafeteria to begin her long day...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Later that morning**

Chuck was awake, and he was well into the beginning of his day inside of his two bedroomed semi-detached home. It was a Saturday, and with Mobility troop not presently being on immediate standby, Red Team had the weekend off. For most of today, Chuck planned to help Sarah to move into her new apartment. Sarah had purchased numerous flat-pack pieces of furniture, and in addition, her mother and sister were bringing Sarah's more personal belongings over from London tomorrow.

Chuck had offered to help Sarah despite her best attempts to refuse his offer. Chuck had successfully managed to convince her by telling her he needed to get away from Jill for the day because she had been on his back ever since he drove Sarah to London. When he had returned home after helping her that night, Jill could smell the two vodka martinis that he had consumed. They had gotten into a heated argument about his promise to return straight back to Hereford.

Whatever Chuck appeared to do at the moment seemed to rile and agitate his girlfriend. At every opportunity, she provoked confrontations with him if he didn't drop everything in his life and put her first. Quite simply, he was exhausted by her toxicity shown towards him in recent months, and if Sarah hadn't have relented to his offer of help, he would have gone to a bar, or he would have attempted to link up with one of his other teammates instead. Chuck would much sooner help a teammate move into her home than go to a bar or to hang out with his other teammates and friends. He understood and knew, however, that Sarah wasn't good at asking for help, but thankfully, she had relented after a few minutes of urging…

Showered, breakfasted, and changed into a navy blue shirt and jeans, Chuck headed downstairs as he prepared to depart to head to Sarah's new apartment. He foresaw another imminent confrontation with Jill when he tells her momentarily that he was going to help Sarah for the entire day. He briefly considered whether he should just sneak out without saying anything, but that would only make matters worse. Arriving downstairs, he headed into the kitchen and dining room. His gaze connected onto Jill. She was facing away from him.

"I'm heading out," he declared.

She turned to face him. "Where are you going?"

"To help Sarah move in. To be honest with you, I'd sooner be anywhere else than be around you right now. All we do is argue. I'm already in one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and I'm getting sick of the petty disagreements that I DO NOT need whenever I come home..."

"You've been spending a lot of time with her," she said.

Chuck nodded his head, and he threw his hands into the air in defeat. "Oh, here we go again. What is it this time?" he asked, and he paused to shake his head in frustration. "Of course I'm spending time with her! She's my new teammate, for heaven's sake!"

"Are you sure that's all she is? If you're not driving her to London and going to a bar together, then you're helping her move in and house-hunting with her."

"Oh, Jill, don't start! I've had enough of this crap from all of the lads!" he shouted at her as he breathed out a deep sigh in continued frustration over Jill seeking to argue at every given opportunity. He was sick of quarrelling with her, and he felt like he had no further fight left in him for this relationship, and he was feeling very tempted into ending it right here and now.

"Oh, so they think it too, do they? Then it is definitely happening!"

He instantly shook his head in disgust of the accusation she had just made towards him. "How dare you accuse me of something so disgustingly offensive!" he fumed in anger. "You know what, Jill? I don't have time for this! I'll see you tonight!" he said as he stormed off out of the kitchen and into his hallway.

"Don't bother at my expense, Chuck! Stay the night with her if you want!"

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck pulled his car to a stop just outside of his teammate's new home. With how aggressive he had driven here, he was surprised that he hadn't had a serious accident along the way and the tires of his car certainly were not too happy with him right now, their screeches of complaint when he had first departed his home a stark reminder of that. To Chuck, it was now evident beyond all doubt that he could not continue this toxic relationship with Jill, and that he would need to end it as soon as possible before he ended up having an accident that could get him killed at work. As an SAS soldier, you needed to possess an awful lot of resilience and grit and determination, and by God, he required an abundance of that right now with Jill's continued behaviour towards him and towards his life in the military. If Chuck were just a normal guy without the resilience built up from his eight years in the army, he would have cracked long ago. Jill had been behaving like this with him for the past full year now. Sure, he was away from home a lot, and he enjoyed spending time with his comrades, and he always would do so long as he was in the army. But Chuck had been in the military long before he had met Jill. Five years longer, in fact. When Jill had pleaded to move in with him, she knew who and what he was. She had told him that them moving in together would be beneficial for their relationship. Well, that was just not true. Jill's moving in with him had tombstone piledrived their relationship and Chuck now knew the reality that their relationship would likely end very soon.

Chuck departed his car, and Sarah was already waiting for him in the parking area. He then locked his car, and the two teammates walked, and they met each other halfway.

"Hi," she greeted him with an affectionate smile.

"Hiya," he responded, and he was unable to hide the sadness on his face because of his events just earlier with Jill.

A sympathetic smile formed on Sarah's face as she asked him, "Are you ok?"

He shrugged at her question to him. "Do you fancy a roommate?" he then asked with a faint smile, and she continued to gaze warmly at him.

"That depends if it's you or Jill. One of you, sure, the other, less so," she joked, and he nodded his head acceptingly, and he laughed at her joke briefly.

"Ooh, you're warming to me already. A few days ago you said you could never apartment share with a scouser. Next week, we'll be sharing toothbrushes," he joked, causing her to laugh.

"Ok, I no longer want to share my apartment with you," she replied with a wide smile.

He immediately hit his forehead with his hand. "I should keep my mouth shut. Just when things were going good," he retorted, and she began to nod.

"Yeah, you should," she said, holding her warm glance.

Chuck moved his hand up to his lips, and he mumbled, "Zipping it now."

"Good boy," she laughed back at him, and they continue to share a warm glance.

"Seriously though, Chuck, are you having problems at home again?" she asked sympathetically, and he nodded affirmatively.

"I've had Cruella de Vil on my back once more. Nothing new there," he declared as Sarah's sympathetic smile remained.

"You don't deserve this, Chuck. And I feel _terrible_ because I know it's because of you helping me ever since I have joined the team," she declared as the two teammates continued to gaze at each other.

"Sarah, don't feel bad. It's not your fault. If you'll excuse my French, she's just being a right spoilt and stuck up little bitch right now."

"Chuck, that's putting it kindly," she replied with her continued warm smile.

He nodded his head with a wry smile, and he breathed out one final despondent sigh over his extreme relationship difficulties. "Enough of her. What time is the furniture delivery?" he asked.

"About an hour," she responded.

He winced. "Dang, you don't have anything in the apartment. What are we going to do for an hour?"

"Do you fancy a brew?" she asked.

He nodded, and they shared another smile before he stated, "But Sarah, there isn't even a kettle in there, at least I didn't notice one when we were here a few days ago."

She nodded. "You're right. There isn't one."

"Actually, Sarah, there's a huge Tesco superstore a few minutes away. It's like five minutes walking, and I'm sure you need the exercise as you'll never keep up with my fitness levels without it," he joked, and he chuckled as he watched her shake her head disapprovingly as she knew he was winding her up again.

"You mean you need it to keep up with mine!" she fired back.

"We'll soon see who has the best endurance. I'll race you there!" he retorted.

"But that's not fair! I don't even know where it is!" she protested, and he chuckled approvingly.

"You had better keep up then!" he retorted back as the two teammates departed through the open driveway and they headed to the supermarket together.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah and Chuck came to a stop on the main road just outside of Sarah's new apartment block. They were carrying around ten shopping bags between them. Whilst at the shop, Sarah had to purchase numerous items such as bed linens, bathing items, groceries, a toaster and in addition to those items, Sarah had also purchased a kettle, coffee, tea, milk and some mugs so that they could have their brew together.

They then walked up the open driveway and then up the Victorian era pathway until arriving at the main entrance housing the apartments. Sarah took out her new keys, and she entered inside the premises for the first time as a tenant and Chuck followed on behind her.

"Sarah, I still want to live here instead of you," Chuck joked, and Sarah slanted her head behind herself to glance at Chuck.

"Don't start that again! Besides, I have already agreed to apartment share with you because I feel bad for you," she responded laughingly.

"Sarah, then I insist on having the master bedroom," he continued the joke.

"Watch it, Chuck!" Sarah warned as she glanced behind herself once more as the teammates arrived outside the door of Sarah's apartment.

With the keys still in her hand from the main door, she moved her hand up to the lock, and the door clicked open, and she entered into her new home for the first time as its tenant, and she walked deeper into the entrance hall, and Chuck closed the door behind them. On completing their actions, Sarah turned to face him.

"Ahhh, home sweet home. Time for me to put my feet up. Sarah put the kettle on," he joked to her with a wide grin.

"What's wrong with your own hands?" she asked as a grin seeped through her lips, and she gazed into his eyes, and she shook her head once more of his teasing towards her.

"I'm saving them for the upcoming tasks! God, I hate flat packs! Why'd you have to be so awkward and buy them?" he asked jokingly.

She suppressed a laugh before responding, "Chuck, I could have done them myself. You didn't have to give your day up."

He began to smile. "Sarah, I was just playing. I would sooner be anywhere than inside my own home right now," he admitted.

She nodded her head, while also returning his smile. "Let's have that brew then," she said.

He nodded as the two teammates then entered into Sarah's kitchen and living space.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah and Chuck departed from the main door of the two-story apartment building, and they headed over towards a large IKEA delivery van that was waiting outside for Sarah to take delivery of her new furniture. The two teammates spent the next few minutes along with two of the delivery men carrying all of the items that Sarah had purchased into the entrance hall of her new home. Sarah had been to a local IKEA a few days ago, and she had purchased a glass table for her lounge, a two-seater sofa, two beds, one wardrobe, a dining table and chairs, two bedside cabinets, two bedside lamps, one set of chest of drawers and a bookshelf. On completion of lumping all of the items of furniture into her apartment, the two delivery men departed, leaving just Chuck and Sarah inside of her apartment once more.

"That is _a lot_ of flat packs!" Chuck declared in amazement and Sarah giggled.

"Yeah, and I'm only half done with my furniture purchases!" she declared.

"Women!" Chuck retorted jokingly with a shake of his head in mock disgust as they began to carry all of the furniture out of the entrance hall and into the respective rooms that the furniture would be placed and assembled in.

On completing their tasks, they walked into the master bedroom together as this room was the primary room needing assembly first so that Sarah could sleep here tonight. They spent the next few minutes as they removed the wrapping from the mattress and the base of the bed and on completion, they moved to stand the mattress idly against the wall.

They then spent the next few minutes assembling the bed before Sarah paused her actions, and she moved to stand. "Do you want another coffee?" she asked him with a warm smile while gazing down at him from where he was still assembling the bed.

He paused from his task to glance up at her. "Oh, I see how it is. You get out of the grafting to make the drinks instead," he teased.

Sarah giggled at his playfulness. "You know me too well," she declared.

He began to nod as he laughingly stated, "You bet I do.

She smiled before asking, "So, are you having one, then?"

He nodded as he jokingly replied, "Yes, please. I'll have the same again if you can remember it."

She winced at his joke. "Now who's being the mean one today?"

"Payback's a bitch, Sarah," he declared, and she suppressed a laugh.

"You'd better be careful. Or else I might just slip some poison in your drink whilst I'm out there," Sarah retorted playfully, and Chuck's eyes immediately widened.

"Sarah, I no longer want a drink," he declared truthfully.

Sarah giggled. "That's too late because you've agreed to have one now."

"Sarah, I think I need a break to rest my muscles. I'll help you make it!" he said as he made an attempt to stand up.

She shook her head as she moved to push him back down. "No, Chuck, you just stay comfortable right there. I won't be long," she said as she continued to giggle, and he began to mumble nervously as she departed the room. She then headed into her kitchen, and she flicked on the kettle while she began to wash out the two coffee mugs, and she waited until the water boiled before she began to make coffee for herself and for Chuck.

On completing her actions, Sarah returned into the master bedroom with the two coffees, and she glanced at Chuck while observing that he had just finished assembling the first item of the dark, Sarah's new king size bed.

"The bed is ready, Milady," he declared with a wide grin, and she smirked.

"Thank you. You can go now. I won't be needing you any more," Sarah retorted with a wide smile, and he moved to put his hand on his heart.

"Now who's being the mean one?" he asked.

"That would be me. Though you should drink your coffee first before you go," Sarah laughed as she extended her arm and her hand that was holding his coffee towards him. She then watched with great interest as he took the mug out of her hand and he raised it to his nose as he began to sniff it for any sign of poison and she suppressed a laugh once more.

He then began to move to take a sip of the coffee before he immediately paused from his actions and he began to choke as he moved his free hand up to his face to grip hold of his throat.

Sarah shook her head as she began to laugh, sweetly at the actions of Chuck as the two teammates then continued on with their furniture assembly.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

After more than an hour, Sarah had just finished assembling her flat-pack chest of drawers and Chuck was still assembling her new wardrobe.

"I finished before you," she declared with a wide grin, and he paused from his assembling of her new wardrobe to glance over at her.

"Yeah, that's because it's half the size!" he shot back, and she snickered approvingly at his words as Chuck continued on with finishing the wardrobe whilst Sarah began to assemble the bedside cabinet...

**A short while later**

Chuck had just finished the assembly of Sarah's new wardrobe, and Sarah had also completed the assembling of her new bedside cabinet.

"Let's have a break," Chuck declared, and Sarah nodded as she stood up from where she was kneeling on the carpet to assemble the cabinet, and they headed into her kitchen together. They then proceeded to make and share sandwiches for the next thirty minutes. They had to stand eating them because the dining chairs came already assembled, however, the dining table was still boxed up and it still needed assembly separately. Once they had finished their lunch together, they were about to head towards Sarah's new living area to continue assembling furniture such as the bookshelf and glass table when they paused in place as Chuck's phone began to ring. Chuck moved his hand into the pocket of his jeans to retrieve his mobile phone, and he glanced at Sarah briefly and then at the screen to ascertain who was calling him.

"It's Cole," he declared to her and Sarah nodded as the two teammates shared a smile before Chuck answered the call of his best friend.

"Hi, Chuck," Cole greeted his best friend warmly once the call had connected.

"Alright, mate?" Chuck replied, warmly to his best friend.

"Yeah, I'm great, mate. How about yourself?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm just helping Sarah move in," he declared as he glanced at Sarah, and they shared another warm gaze.

"Oh yeah? Is it ok if I come round with Sophie? I would love to see her new place," Cole asked.

Chuck glanced at Sarah once more before he asked, "Cole is wondering if he can come over with his fianceé to see your new apartment?"

A loving smile formed on his teammate's face, and she nodded her head affirmatively as she declared, "Sure, that's fine."

"Yeah mate, no problem at all," Chuck then informed his best friend.

"Great. What's the address, Chuck?" Cole then asked.

"It's in Victoria Court. It's the same building as the old eye hospital. They refurbished it," Chuck stated.

"Ohhh, that's right in the centre! Yeah, I know exactly where that is. We'll be over soon, Chuck," Cole said, warmly.

"Smashing. See you then, mate."

"Yeah, see you in a bit, Chuck," Cole said, and Chuck disconnected the call, and he began to glance at Sarah once more.

"You will love Sophie. She's local to the area, and she's a down to earth girl," Chuck declared, and Sarah smiled at him.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Arriving outside Sarah's new apartment, Chuck and Sarah welcomed Cole's arrival along with his fianceé.

"Alright, Cole?" Chuck warmly greeted his best friend once more, and he shook Cole's hand as they shared an affectionate grin.

"How's your weekend so far, Chuck?" Cole asked his best friend.

"It started off rubbish with Jill on my back as per usual, but it's perked up since arriving here," Chuck declared, and his best friend and Sophie both began to smile sympathetically at him.

"Is she giving you an earful again?" Sophie asked as she moved to hug and kiss Chuck whilst Cole and Sarah shook hands with each other at the same time.

"Yeah. I don't know how much longer it can continue before I demand that she packs her bags and moves the hell out of my life," Chuck admitted, and his best friend and Sophie smiled sympathetically at him once more.

"Chuck, you deserve better than her," Sophie declared sincerely, and Cole began to nod in agreement with his fianceé's words.

"You do, Chuck," Cole then verbally agreed.

"I know," Chuck admitted with a nod of his head.

Cole then began to introduce Sarah to his fianceé. "Sarah, this is my lovely fianceé, Sophie," he declared, and the two women moved to embrace.

"Hi, Sophie," Sarah greeted her with a loving smile.

"Hi, Sarah," Sophie responded, returning Sarah's warm smile.

"Chuck was right, you are lovely," Sarah declared, and Sophie smiled as she shifted her glance between Sarah and Chuck.

"Oh, he said that, did he?" Sophie asked affectionately, gazing at Chuck.

"Mh-hmm," Sarah responded warmly with a nod of her head.

"I love Chuck like the brother I never had. He's the sweetest guy I've met," Sophie declared in response to Sarah as she gazed right at Chuck.

"And make sure that's all it is too," Cole joked causing the other three adults present to laugh together whilst Chuck also shook his head in disgust at the offensive joke.

"Cole, how could you think so little of me? I'd sooner step on an IED than hurt or betray you, you bastard!" Chuck responded affectionately to his best friend, and they shared a loving grin once more.

"Language, Chuck!" Sophie warned him disapprovingly, and she scolded his army tongue.

"Sorry," Chuck laughed as the group of four all then entered inside the two-storey apartment building together, and they headed on up to the first floor, and Chuck followed Sarah back inside of her apartment with Cole and Sophie following in behind them.

"I like the style of this building," Sophie declared.

"Yeah, I love Victorian buildings," Cole said in agreement, and Chuck nodded, whilst Sarah smiled at them both.

Sarah and Chuck spent the next ten minutes giving Cole and Sophie a tour of her new apartment, and on departing the master bedroom, Cole said, "I want to live here too."

Chuck laughed, approvingly at his best friend's declaration.

"Not you as well!" Sarah said as she shook her head.

"Chuck's been winding me up all week saying he wants to live here. He even tried to coerce the estate agent into letting him move here instead."

Sarah's response caused Chuck to burst into laughter, and Sophie and Cole quickly did the same.

"Good man," Cole mouthed approvingly to his best friend, and Chuck nodded as he continued to chuckle over his winding up of Sarah all week long.

"That's not nice, Chuck," Sophie replied tongue-in-cheek.

"I know it's not!" Sarah replied with a straight face.

"But Sophie, you should hear the things she says to me!" Chuck protested, and he began to think back to everything that Sarah had playfully said to him all week long.

"I'm sure you deserved it," Sophie said with a loving smile.

"I thought you liked me," Chuck replied as he pouted and frowned his eyebrows in feint hurt.

"I do, but girls stick together," Sophie declared as she shifted her gaze between Chuck and Sarah.

"You bet we do, Sarah said approvingly, and Chuck watched as the two women shared loving smiles.

"Cole, let's go and get drunk. I don't want to be around these two any more," Chuck declared and began to nod in approval.

"Sounds like a great idea, Chuck," Cole then said, and Chuck pointed his finger at his best friend, and he nodded approvingly at his response to him.

"Cole, you had better be kidding right now! Because we're heading on a romantic evening tonight," Sophie complained, and Chuck couldn't help but snicker as his best friend's fianceé began to glare evil daggers at his best friend.

"Sorry, Sophie, the engagement is off. I have decided you can't be with him any more," Chuck declared, and he tried his best to hold in a laugh which threatened to erupt.

"Steady on, Chuck!" Cole protested, and Chuck was now unable to fight off his laughter any longer.

"Cole, you're supposed to back me up, man," Chuck declared as his lips creased in sadness once he was able to stop laughing. "Why is it always me that gets left alone and nobody takes my side?"

Sarah and Sophie started to laugh, as the group of four all entered into Sarah's open plan kitchen and living room once more.

"I wish I could offer you both a drink, but I don't have much, yet, I'm afraid," Sarah declared remorsefully.

"It's fine, Sarah. We weren't staying long anyway. I just wanted to see your new place and to have you meet Sophie. Sophie has been really interested in you and your accomplishments in becoming the first female to serve with us in _the_ Regiment," Cole declared as the four adults all shared a loving smile towards each other over Cole's words.

"He's right. You're an inspiration to every woman on the planet, Sarah," Sophie stated.

Sarah began to beam Sophie a loving smile. "Thank you. It was backbreaking work," she said.

Sophie nodded. "Oh, I can imagine. I'm sure you must feel very proud of yourself," she said as Chuck and Cole remained idle as they listened in to the loving exchange between the two women.

"I do," Sarah said as the two women held their loving smiles.

"Maybe in ten years from now, there will be a lot more than just one," Sophie stated.

"I hope so because I hate feeling like the odd one out. One girl, hundreds of men," Sarah said as she began to laugh and Chuck, Sophie and Cole began to share the laughter with her.

"I can imagine how hard that is," Sophie retorted as her loving smile continued, and Sarah, Cole and Chuck all began to nod with Sophie's opinion.

"Well. I guess that's us then. We'll leave you to resume your flat pack assembly," Cole stated.

Chuck nodded. "I'll probably call round and see you both tomorrow."

"I really look forward to that, Chuck," Cole said hospitably, and the best friends shared a loving grin once more.

"Me too. And you'll stay for dinner," Sophie demanded.

Chuck shifted his glance onto Sophie, and he nodded before responding, "Absolutely."

"Great," Sophie said affectionately, and Chuck shared a smile with his best friend's fianceé once more.

"I'll see you at work on Monday, Sarah," Cole stated.

"Yeah. Bye, Cole. I hope you both have a lovely evening," Sarah said, and Chuck nodded his head in agreement.

"Thank you," Cole said, warmly.

"Sarah, it was lovely to meet you," Sophie said.

"And you," Sarah retorted.

"We'll show you out," Chuck declared, and Sarah, Cole and Sophie all nodded as they began to depart Sarah's kitchen, and they entered into the entrance hall of the apartment followed by them exiting the apartment, and they descended down the stairs until they finally exited the apartment building together.

Chuck moved to hug Sophie goodbye. "Goodbye, Sophie. I hope you have a great night. Enjoy yourselves," he declared.

"Thank you, Chuck. You too," Sophie said affectionately, and Chuck nodded as Sophie and Sarah then embraced, while he moved to shake his best friend's hand.

"Have a good night, Cole, mate," Chuck said affectionately mid handshake with his best friend.

"Thanks, Chuck. I'll see you tomorrow," Cole replied in the same tone, and Chuck nodded as Cole and Sophie began to depart away from Chuck and Sarah, and the two teammates watched on as one of their other teammates and Sophie entered into Cole's car, and they waved them off as they departed from the property.

With their teammate disappeared from view, Chuck and Sarah began to head back inside the apartment building once more before they then entered inside Sarah's apartment. Because Chuck and Sarah had already assembled the master bedroom, there was still the guest bedroom, the living area and the kitchen yet to be assembled. Chuck followed Sarah inside of the guest room when suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks with her back to him, and he paused along with her because otherwise, he would have clattered right into the back of her and gotten a nasty bump.

"You know what? I don't want to do any more assembling today. I want to get drunk instead," Sarah declared on now turning to face him.

Chuck quirked his eyebrows at the sudden suggestion from Sarah as they still had a lot left to assemble such as the second bed in this room, another bedside cabinet and a glass table, a bookshelf and the dining table out in the rest of her apartment.

"Are you sure?" he asked apprehensively as he still felt there was a lot of work to do, and he wanted to help her with it.

"Chuck, we've done enough for today. I have somewhere to stay tonight, and my mum and sister are both coming over tomorrow, and they would want to help with the rest anyway," she stated.

He nodded. "Ok. If you're certain it's what you want to do. I don't mind carrying on if you want to."

She smiled at him. "Chuck, I'm sure. It's the weekend and Cole and Sophie going out and having a good time tonight has kind of made me want to go out and do the same. If you want to that is. If you don't, I could always go myself," she said as they shared a smile.

"Sarah, it sounds like a great idea, and I want to come with you, but I'm driving," he protested half-heartedly because he kind of really wanted to go out and have a good time himself tonight after having had Jill down his throat for the entire week ever since he had driven Sarah to London.

"Chuck, you can leave your car here and get a taxi home. It's off-road parking, and I am allowed guests, so your car is safe," she suggested with her continued smile.

Chuck took a brief moment to consider Sarah's suggestion before a wide grin took shape on his face, and he nodded his head acceptingly.

"I take it that your facial expressions and the nod of your head mean that's a yes then," she asked him with her continued smile.

"Sarah, I would like to retract my former protest and to instead change my response to, I thought you would never ask," he said with a wide grin, and Sarah giggled as the two teammates quickly departed Sarah's apartment once more…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

It was late afternoon, and Sarah and Chuck had just arrived outside of a bar in Hereford. On arrival outside of the bar, Sarah took in its appearance. The bar was not as classy as the one in Kensington that they were at together just four days ago, but it suited her just fine. Sarah's family were _extremely_ wealthy, but she had always been a down to earth girl, and she felt more suited and more at home in less affluent places than those of her birthplace.

Chuck moved to open and hold the door to the bar for her, and she entered inside before glancing behind herself to look at Chuck to engage in conversation with him.

"Sarah, it's not as posh as the one we were at in London a few days ago or the ones in Cheshire for that matter, but it suits me just fine," he declared, and she gave him a loving smile.

"Chuck, I was just thinking the same. It's perfect," she declared, and he returned the loving grin to her.

The two teammates and friends made their way towards the counter of the bar, and they began to wait to order their drinks.

"So, what are we having then?" Chuck asked as they waited to be served.

"Chuck..." Sarah attempted to protest. Sarah wanted to purchase the orders for them both as a thank you for his helping of her today and just about every day since her first day in _the_ Regiment a few weeks ago.

"Nope, Sarah, the first one is on me. If you're still insistent, then you can buy the next one. I'm just thankful that you saved me from having to be around Jill today because I can't take any more of her bullshit," he said, and she smiled in acceptance.

"Fair enough. But I'm buying the next," she declared with no room for negotiation in her tone, and he nodded and gave her a smile.

"I'm fine with that," he declared.

"Ok," she replied.

"So, what are we having?" he asked.

A wicked smile suddenly formed on Sarah's face as she gazed at her comrade and friend. "How about we continue where we left off a few days ago, and we order the same again?" she suggested.

A wicked smile quickly formed on his own face. "I like your thinking, Ms Bond," he said, playfully.

Sarah giggled as the two comrades and friends then ordered and were served two vodka martinis, and they collected their drinks before they moved to sit next to each other on two bar stools at one of the corners of the bar. Their chosen spot was pretty secluded, and it was out of the way of most of the other people in attendance at the busy bar, and it suited them just fine as they preferred to be in their own company just like almost everybody else in _the _Regiment.

"So, Chuck," Sarah started, and she waited until he met her gaze with her own and responded to her.

"Yeah?" he asked with a loving grin.

"Tell me all about yourself and about what led you to where you are today," she said as she smiled invitingly at him.

He nodded. "Sure," he started but paused to gather his thoughts before he continued, "Well, where to begin... I was born in Cheshire. My mother is a very successful investment banker, and she was born and raised in Cheshire like me herself. My dad is recently retired from the army after having served for thirty years, and they both met each other on a night out with their friends. My dad isn't from Cheshire, though. He is from Liverpool."

"So you are a scouser!" Sarah declared with a wide grin, and he chuckled acceptingly.

"Ok, half scouser. I'll give you that. But don't tell anybody or I would have to kill you," he replied, and she began to giggle as she continued her loving smile towards him.

"I'd like to see you try. But what about the rest of your immediate family? You have mentioned your sister a few times?" she asked and he nodded as she took a sip of her drink.

"Yeah, Ellie, she's a few years older than me, and she is engaged to a lovely guy. They are both doctors in the NHS. Actually, he's from around your neck of the woods too," he declared.

"Oh, which part of London?" she asked interestedly.

"Surrey," he replied, and she immediately quirked her eyebrows in utter confusion.

"Chuck, Surrey isn't even in London," she laughed, and he nodded his head, and he began to chuckle.

"I know, but I consider it to be!" he declared, and she shook her head in disbelief.

"You're weird," she declared warmly with a loving smile to him.

"So I have been told," he replied with a wide grin, and she continued to shake her head.

"What about you though, Chuck? You seem like an extraordinarily smart guy, so of all the things you could be, why the army?" she asked as she took another sip of her drink.

"Mostly for the adventure. When you spend the first sixteen years of your life growing up with your father and grandfather never shutting up about how wonderful and how adventurous and how brave it is to serve your country it kind of leaves a lasting impression," he admitted.

She smirked. "But you said your mum and your sister didn't want you to sign up?" she asked and he furiously began to nod his head, and she took another sip of her drink.

"God no," he said with a wide grin, and she laughed briefly.

"Your mum and sister are exactly like mine then," she declared as they shared a warm smile.

"Speaking of which, why don't you tell me about you?" he asked.

Sarah immediately turned a bit fidgety and slightly nervous at the prospect of talking about herself, which she had never found an easy thing to do.

"I'm not sure," she said apprehensively, as she gazed at him before she took another sip of her drink.

"Nonsense, Sarah, I told you about me, so tell me about you," he encouraged.

"Fair enough," she started, but she paused briefly to build up the courage to talk as they continued to gaze warmly at each other. "I'm a posh London girl, but I have never felt like I belonged around wealth and instead of being waited around on and doing all of the pompous things that rich people do, I decided to put my body on the line and to serve my country instead."

He began to grin at her.

"Not very interesting, huh?" she asked as she gazed into his eyes.

"On the contrary! You truly fascinate me. It's none of my business, but I'm sure your family are very wealthy. Yet, you grew up as an amateur runner that could have turned successful and competed in the Olympics, and you then enlist into the army, and you now end up in the best Regiment in the world. I take my hat off to you, Sarah, truly," he declared with his continued loving grin, and she smiled right back at him.

"Thank you," she said as she continued her smile and her gaze onto him and she took another sip of her drink…

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah had just been served their second round of vodka martinis, and she paid for them before collecting them, and she returned to the corner of the bar that she was sitting at with Chuck. She then moved to hand him his drink, and they shared a smile as she moved to sit on the stool next to him once more. If Sarah had her way, she would be purchasing the third, fourth and fifth round too.

She was enjoying every moment of his company today. Sarah had never met a guy like Chuck Bartowski before. If Sarah was looking for the perfect guy, then she was pretty sure that her friend and teammate was precisely that.

Frankly, she liked everything about him that she had seen from him in the time that she had known him so far. And during their time at the bar together, she'd already noticed several women glancing towards him, and she could see why. Chuck was tall, broad-shouldered, he had a smile out of this world, he was masculine looking, and he had a rugged face with a few broken bones from his eight years in the army. However, all of that was just his outside appearance. What appealed most of all to Sarah, was what was inside of him. He had done nothing but help her at every opportunity in the few weeks that she had known him. He easily had the kindest heart that Sarah had ever encountered, and she simply could not fathom why his girlfriend was treating him as poorly as she presently was. If Chuck's girlfriend continued to treat him as badly as she was, then Sarah was feeling quite tempted to have some strong words with her.

Sarah was very loyal towards her friends, and Chuck was quickly becoming one of her best friends. Actually, he already was the best friend that she had. Sarah didn't have many friends in life, because she wasn't the biggest of people persons. But she was ok with that. For Sarah, the only real people she had ever needed were her mother and her sister. Her father had passed away to cancer when she was nine so she was unable to grow up with her father, but the three Walker females shared a very loving and unbreakable bond, and that was all she ever needed in her life.

"Chuck, you can tell me to mind my own business if you want to. But I have to ask you something. Why are you still with your girlfriend after how she is treating you?" Sarah asked as she gazed into Chuck's eyes, and she took another sip of her second drink at the same time.

A faint smile began to form on his face, and he breathed out a deep sigh for a long moment. "I don't know. I wish I could answer that, but I don't have the answer to give you," he admitted.

"It's a toxic relationship, and you deserve far better than what you're getting from her," she declared sincerely with a warm smile.

"Sarah, it undoubtedly is a toxic relationship. I guess I've just allowed her to stay in my life in the hope that she changed back into the girl she was when I met her. But as each day passes by, I lose more and more hope that it will ever happen and I get closer and closer to telling her to pack her bags and to move on out of my life rather than continue to make it hell," he admitted, and she now began to sport him a sympathetic smile instead.

"Chuck, I'm not telling you what to do. I have only known you for a few weeks, but sometimes there comes the point where you have to cut your losses and let go," she stated sincerely to him, and he began to nod in acceptance of her words.

"I know. You're right," he admitted, and she held her sympathetic smile toward him.

"You're my teammate and my friend, and I'll be honest with you, I'm not very happy that every time I see you, you are in some kind of wound-up state because your girlfriend has said or done something to you. Never-mind you walking away from her, if she is so unhappy with you, then she should walk away from you rather than keep behaving like a nasty bitch towards you," Sarah stated, and he began to nod his head.

"But enough of me, Sarah. I am at the end of my tether with how horrible she has been treating me for the past year. I don't want to talk about her any more so what about you? Have you had many or any relationships?" he asked.

She smiled at his interest in her life before she admitted, "A few. But they were mostly just physical attraction relationships."

"You don't like commitment, huh?" he asked, playfully with a loving smile.

She smiled at his playfulness. "Chuck, I love the army too much to want to focus on a relationship instead. I will always put my career before a relationship. Because I feel like I have a purpose in my life right now, and it is the only time that I have felt like this. Before the army, I wasn't very content with who I was. I don't like nor have I ever wanted to feel like the stuck up rich girl that looks down on anybody with less than one million pounds in the bank."

"Sarah, I have never thought for one second that you are stuck up. You are really down to earth and so easy to engage in conversation with," he declared sincerely with a loving grin, and they shared a very cordial moment.

"I know. And that's why I like you," she said with an affectionate smile, and they took another sip of their drinks.

"Sarah, you have been really nice to me too. Well, aside from all of the hurtful comments that is," he declared with his continued loving grin.

"Chuck, I was just playing with you," she responded with a smile.

He nodded. "I know, and I'm joking too. They don't bother me. In fact, I love them. I really enjoy your company, and I have a lot of fun whenever I'm with you," he declared with his continued grin.

"Me too," she replied with her continued smile.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Sarah and Chuck were now on their third round of vodka martinis. She had also purchased this round for them both. It had taken some persuasion, but Chuck had only agreed to allow Sarah to purchase the round on the insistence that he be allowed to purchase the fourth one.

"Well, Sarah, I am really enjoying tonight. I can safely say that this is the most fun that I have had in a long time," he declared.

Sarah gazed into his eyes, and they shared an affectionate smile once more. "Me too," she replied as they continued their gaze.

"For a cockney, you're actually quite alright," he joked.

"For a scouser, you are too," she quipped back, and they continued their warm gaze as they took another sip of their drinks.

**A short while later**

Sarah was now on her fourth vodka martini with Chuck, and he had purchased this round for them both.

"Chuck, can I talk with you about something?" Sarah asked as she gazed into his eyes from where they were seated at the bar together.

"Sarah, you can talk with me about anything," he declared with a warm, inviting grin.

"Anything?" she couldn't resist but add in flirtatiously as she looked at him cutely.

"Anything," he replied as he looked at her the same way, and she giggled briefly before she turned serious.

"I keep having nightmares, Chuck," she admitted, and Chuck's loving smile instantly began to fade.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm not surprised. Because I get the nightmares too," he admitted.

"Wow, I'm surprised," she stated.

He began to laugh briefly. "Why? Because I love a laugh and a joke? Sarah, we are human. I love this job, and I will never leave it voluntarily, but it does take a hefty toll on our mental well-being. If you ever need to talk, please do confide in me. I won't mock you or go around the base telling everyone you have nightmares," he declared sincerely, and she smiled as they shared another bonding moment together.

"You better not, or I would kill you," she said playfully.

He nodded. "Fair enough. But Sarah, this is a serious discussion. I want to listen to what you have to say. Please continue with where you started."

She continued to gaze at him, and she began to breathe out a short sigh.

"Chuck, ever since the bridge and everything leading up to it in the market and all of the casualties all over the floor and those armed police who were deceased that we saw, I have had nightmares every night and even when I'm awake I can't get it out of my mind either. Though I haven't thought about them until now because I have enjoyed every second of my day today," Sarah declared and a smile formed on her face on stating the last bit to him.

He returned her smile. "It gets easier, Sarah. I can promise you that it gets easier."

She gazed into his eyes as she asked, "How do you cope with it until it does?"

He smiled at her. "By confiding in others. Sarah, if you need to call me just to hear a friendly voice at any point in the day or night, then do it," he said in a heartfelt tone, and she did a double-take at his blunt sincerity because aside from her mother and sister, she was not used to people behaving like this with her.

"Really, Chuck? I don't think you or Jill would be too pleased if I called you at 4am like when I woke up this morning. You would probably kill me," she joked with a wry smile, and he briefly shook his head in disagreement.

"Sarah, from an honest perspective, I wouldn't be too happy with a phone call at 4am for a few seconds, but once my brain switched on and I woke up, I wouldn't mind it at all. And I don't care what Jill thinks. You are my teammate and my friend and if you need to call me at 4am to speak to somebody then please do not hesitate to do so," he declared in that same blunt, sincere tone that he had formerly used. What Chuck had just said was a bit overpowering for somebody who had spent her life living her life on her own with not much deep and personal interaction with other people. Sarah involuntarily began to shrug her shoulder as she filled up with deep happiness inside because what Chuck had just said to her may possibly be the sincerest thing that anybody had ever said to her in her whole life.

"Then the least I can do is to extend that same offer back to you. If you need to talk to me for anything then you can call me at 4am too," she said as she sported him an affectionate smile and he nodded his head as he grinned right back at her.

**A short while later**

Sarah had just finished her fifth and final vodka martini with Chuck. She wasn't sure how long they have been here together, but it had been at least several hours, and she had enjoyed every single second with her comrade and friend today, and she was sure that he was feeling the same way towards her. They weren't completely drunk, but they were well on their way to being in that state, and both teammates had decided to end the night in their present happy frame of minds that they were both in.

"Are you ready to head back then?" Sarah asked, and he began to nod.

"Yeah. I could drink more, but I don't feel like having any more. That would just be drinking for the sake of drinking," he stated.

She nodded her head, and she smiled vibrantly before stating, "I agree. Let's go then."

He nodded, and she took that as her cue to stand up from the barstool she had been seated at as the comrades and friends departed the bar, and they began the short walk back to Sarah's apartment.

"Thank you again for tonight, Chuck. I have enjoyed being in your company," Sarah declared to him as they continued their short walk back to her apartment.

"And I have loved every minute of being in yours too, Sarah," he replied with a warm smile, and she returned the facial gesture to him.

The two comrades and friends continued walking for just a few minutes more until they arrived outside of the driveway that housed her two-storey Victorian apartment complex.

"Well, here we are then," she declared on them both coming to a stop.

"Yeah, here we are," he said with a nod of his head.

Chuck and Sarah began to pause in silence as they gazed at each other for an extended moment before Sarah broke the silence between them. "Chuck... I don't do this very often. But… Do you want to come in?" she asked as she gazed at her teammate with a lustful smile.

He immediately froze all action and thought, and he remained like this for an extended moment as she continued to gaze into his eyes, and he stared right back at her.

"Sarah..." he started but paused. "I'm tempted. I am feeling so unbelievably tempted to accept that invitation right now. You are by far the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen in my life, and even that is an understatement, and, whoever gets to be with you is extremely lucky and blessed..."

"But?" she interrupted as she continued her affectionate gaze onto him.

"But I'm already in a committed relationship. Is it a happy one? No. Do I see it lasting the remaining months of this year? No to that also. But I'm a faithful guy, and I won't do that to her. I will always be a one-woman man, and I won't play around in any relationship. She may not be my woman for much longer, but I just can't do it to her, I'm sorry," he said as he began to smile consolingly at her, and she nodded in acceptance as a faint smile began to take shape.

"You're right. And I'm sorry for putting you in this position. It was a stupid idea, and I shouldn't have done it," she said, and her gaze lowered away from Chuck and down at the floor in shame and sadness.

"Maybe in another life?" he asked, and she raised her gaze to look at him once more.

She nodded. "Yeah, maybe in another life," she said, and the two comrades shared a faint smile with each other.

"Well, goodnight then. And once again, thank you for tonight, Sarah," Chuck said.

"Goodnight, Chuck," she replied as the comrades and friends paused to look at each other in silence for a final moment. Chuck then began to turn away from her to head to a taxi rank close by, and she began to sigh deeply for a long moment over what had occurred just moments ago. Sarah had never made an intimate approach towards a comrade before as she had just done towards him. She breathed out a final, long sigh in a mixture of shame, confusion, fear and sadness over the revelation before she began to head up the driveway and she quickly entered into her apartment...

**End of Chapter**

**AN3 **Next Chapter: We meet Morgan Grimes, and much, much more as Charah get back to work! Also, I wonder how Chuck and Sarah will behave around each other after what happened outside Sarah's apartment? I can't promise that you will find out the answer to that soon. Because it will all depend on whether people decide to engage with my story or not. If not, then the next update of Who Dares Wins will likely be many months from now, because I just can't continue to publish this story on a chapter by chapter basis without the readership here for me to do so.

Once more, Happy Holidays to you all!


	10. Chapter 10

**AN1 **Happy New Year from Paris!

**AN2 **Whew, that was exhausting but worth it! The update has taken some days because I have transitioned my writing from a passive voice to an active one. I have heavily modified the previous chapters, and the story should flow and read a lot easier for most of you.

**AN3** Review count was absolutely amazing the last chapter, by the way. And as such, I will continue to be posting Who Dares Wins on a chapter-by-chapter basis at least until it drops to danger levels once more. So don't go silent :) Please do keep engaging with the story.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

Chuck found himself conscious and awake the morning after his extremely eventful evening with Sarah. Chuck had slept on the sofa last night. You would be hard-pressed to find many people that would rather sleep on the couch in their home, rather than in their own bed. But Chuck couldn't stand to be around Jill for a moment longer last night, so he had willingly vacated his bedroom. Chuck and Jill had gotten into yet another disagreement. Jill once more had replayed that same broken record of Chuck putting his life in the military and his army friends before her because he had spent the whole day with Sarah. Chuck had told Jill last night that if she didn't like it, then she should pack her bags because he had frankly had enough of it now. It had gone on for far too long— a year too long.

Raising his left hand to his face, he proceeded to use his hand to rub his sleep from his face. On completing his action, Chuck rose to stand from his former resting position.

On standing, Chuck departed the living room, and he proceeded to head upstairs, and he entered into the bathroom. On entering, he closed the bathroom door, and he locked it after him before undressing himself from his clothes. He then stepped into the shower to freshen and wake himself up.

**A short while later**

Chuck exited the bathroom after having finished showering, and his gaze connected onto Jill, who had departed the main bedroom almost in sync with him. She was wearing a coat, and she was carrying numerous bags, and she looked ready to head out somewhere.

Jill met his gaze as she declared, "I'm going to stay with my mum."

Chuck nodded. "Maybe it's for the best."

"Aren't you going to fight for me to stay?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, I don't think I am. I have no fight left in me for this relationship. How you have behaved with me for the past few weeks has been the final straw. You aren't the same girl I first met more than two years ago," he declared.

There was then an extended pause, as the two partners gazed briefly at each other in silence and reflection.

"It was the moving in, wasn't it?" she asked eventually.

He nodded affirmatively for a few seconds.

"I thought it would help our relationship," she replied.

"It killed it," he declared, and she nodded.

"Yeah, it did. But we had our moments."

He nodded as a faint smile formed. "Sure, we did."

She smiled back at him. "I'll miss you."

"Jill, it's for the best. You aren't happy in this relationship. And I'm not happy with how you have been behaving towards me alone never-mind how you have behaved towards my friends for the past year," he stated.

She continued her faint smile towards him. "I'm sorry for how I behaved."

He nodded in acceptance. "And I'm sorry you felt neglected," he said.

"Do you think we could try again from the beginning without us living together?" she asked as they held their gaze.

He shook his head. "No. We have drifted too far apart. I don't feel the same towards you any more. And I will never give up or ditch my comrades that I have fought side by side in the hellholes of Iraq and Afghanistan with. I love and cherish all of my comrades. And I have loved you also, Jill. But there are now too many broken bridges between us that I know can never be repaired," he admitted.

"The way I behaved and the frustrations that I showed towards you and your friends was only because I cared about and liked you. If I didn't care or love you, then I would have left long ago without complaining or saying anything," she declared.

He nodded. "I know."

They then pause in silence for a short moment until Chuck broke the silence once more, "I'll drive you to your mum's."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

Chuck and Jill then began to depart from his home, and they entered into Jill's car because Chuck's was still outside Sarah's, and he began to drive Jill to the home of her mother, followed by him taking a short walk to collect his own car, and he departed for dinner with his best friend and his fiancee.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**The next day**

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom**

**08:00 hours**

Sarah entered through the double doors, and she stepped inside the cafeteria on her base. She had spent all of yesterday hosting her mother and sister who had brought all of her personal possessions over from London, and the three Walker women spent the entire day in each others company. When Emma and Molly did depart Sarah's new apartment, it was well after 9 pm, so it was very late considering the drive had taken Sarah three hours when doing it with Chuck just a few days previously.

Sarah moved up to the counter of the canteen, and she ordered some coffee. She then waited as the civilian dinner ladies began to serve her with her morning beverage. On completion, Sarah gathered it into her hand, before she turned, and she began to head over to one of the benches inside of the cafeteria, and she moved to sit down. She then spent the next few minutes drinking her warm coffee until she glanced at Bryce, who moved to take a seat next to her. On him sitting, she slanted her head to the left of her to make eye contact with Bryce, and she nodded at him.

"Good morning," he greeted her.

"Hi," Sarah replied as the teammates shared a warm smile.

"Good weekend?" he asked.

She nodded. "Mh-hmm. I moved into my new apartment and hosted my family yesterday."

"Oh, nice. I haven't found anywhere yet. I don't suppose you fancy apartment sharing? Bryce asked.

Sarah vigorously shook her head for a few seconds as she replied, "No, thank you. I like my own space."

_And I would sooner live in a sewer than have you as my roommate after how you behaved with me during selection!_

He began to laugh, and he nodded acceptingly.

Silence then ensued once more, and Sarah continued drinking her coffee for a few minutes more until she noted Chuck enter into the canteen with Cole. She gazed at Chuck, and he quickly fixated his eyes onto her to meet her gaze. They held their gaze with each other for a few seconds, and Chuck began to smile at her, but she averted her gaze away from him, and she looked elsewhere.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**10:00 hours**

Chuck discharged a round from his pistol at a static target inside of the indoor gun range on base. Chuck and the rest of Red Team were at the gun range, and they were practising their sidearm marksmanship skills. There were eight cubicles, and Red Team were occupying all of them. Chuck continued discharging his Sig Sauer P226 sidearm at the target for a few more seconds along with the rest of Red Team doing the same when suddenly, Chuck began to hear echos through his earmuffs of rapid gunfire at one of the targets. He watched on as the target was ripped to shreds by the rapid burst of gunfire from whoever had just fired that weapon.

On the gunfire ceasing, he instantly abandoned his marksmanship training, and he placed his sidearm down onto the desk of the cubicle. He then removed his earmuffs, and he stepped back from the cubicle as his glance concentrated on cubicle eight to query the gunfire, which was where the rapid gunfire originated from.

Chuck continued in wait, along with the rest of the team now doing the exact same as him when Bryce appeared from view in cubicle eight and he was holding onto his MP5 that he had just discharged at the target on the range. Chuck and the rest of Red Team instantly began to shake their heads in disbelief at what they had just seen as Chuck, and the rest of the team quickly began to suppress laughter at the actions of their teammate.

With their marksmanship training coming to an abrupt end after Bryce's antics, Chuck and the rest of the team started to depart from the gun range when their pagers all began to go off in sync. Red Team instantly froze in place as their glances all connected onto their respective pagers.

"Finally, a mission!" Dan stated, elatedly.

"Amen to that! I was getting bored out of my mind with training, training and more training," Bryce declared, and the team of eight shared laughter.

"Yeah, I don't think it's wrong to state that we had gathered that based on what you have just done!" Chuck joked as the laughter of the team extended.

"Another day or two, and the bastard would have been using plastic explosives in here instead!" Cole joked, extending the laughter even further.

"Don't give the bastard any ideas!" Chris retorted, causing the laughter of the team to climax at an all-time high.

Red Team then departed the gun range, and they entered into two red Range Rovers, and they began to head to the briefing room they had been requested in.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Chuck entered into one of the briefing rooms on the base. He then moved to take a seat on one of the chairs along with the rest of his team. Blue Team were also in attendance. Both of the teams then paused in wait, until Chuck watched as a short five-foot six-ish black-haired, bearded male entered into the briefing room. Chuck hadn't seen him before, but he was wearing civilian attire, so he was probably an intelligence sector employee. Chuck watched as the short guy moved to the front of the briefing room near to a large projector hanging from the wall.

"Hey. I'm Morgan Grimes, MI5," the intelligence employee announced himself, and Morgan began to glance around the troop with a friendly smile.

"A male Box 500, nice!" a Blue Team member joked earning laughter from the soldiers and also from Morgan who began to nod and chuckle approvingly.

"Where's Jenny?" Jamie Hughes asked.

"Maternity leave, so I'm your new guy," Morgan replied.

"What have you got for us?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked.

"Armed surveillance and if necessary, direct intervention. MI5 and GCHQ have been picking up a lot of chatter on the net since what happened in London a few weeks ago. There has been a lot of chatter of copycats and wannabe jihadists wanting to emulate and to take a pop at us whilst the country is still reeling from the shock of what happened in London. In conclusion; Islamist extremists are planning an attack on a British soldier outside of their barracks in Birmingham," Morgan informed the two teams of their mission parameter.

Chuck shook his head in disgust, and most of his teammates began to do the same.

"How are they planning to do it?" Blue Team Leader Staff Sergeant Williams asked.

"The chatter is that they are planning a vehicular ramming and knife attack," Morgan stated.

"Who are our surveillance targets?" Sarah asked.

"Not people, this," Morgan said, and Chuck watched as a picture of a mosque appeared on one of the projectors.

Chuck and the rest of the troop immediately shook their heads in complete disbelief of their impending mission.

"Oh, christ, you want us to observe a whole bloody mosque! That's impossible!" Cole declared, and Chuck nodded in agreement with his best friend.

"Well, I heard from Jenny that you guys were the best," Morgan retorted with a wide grin earning satisfactory laughter from most of Mobility troop.

"We like you already!" Chuck said in approval.

"Heh," Morgan chuckled, and he began to nod as they shared eye contact.

"Aren't you a bit short to be a spy?" Bryce joked earning laughter from Morgan and Mobility troop.

"I kind of bluffed my way into the job, to be honest with you, but don't tell my bosses, heh!" Morgan humorously replied.

Chuck and the rest of Mobility troop once more shared laughter with the funny Box 500 employee.

"You're alright, mate," John Murray declared warmly.

"How many worshipers attend the mosque?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked.

"Up to a hundred," Morgan replied.

"Christ! You want us to observe the whole lot?!" Big Dan asked in disbelief.

Morgan began to nod.

"Yeah. Obviously, you can't observe every worshipper at the mosque. So I'm afraid you're going to have to pick and choose who to follow and hope that it leads you to the right one. I wish I had more intelligence to give you. They have been very good at covering their tracks. The only thing they have slipped as of now is their place of worship."

"Mate, you have no intelligence whatsoever to give us! Just a location and a target! We're going in blind!" Jamie Hughes stated in frustration, and most of Mobility troop promptly agreed with their comrade.

Morgan began to nod his head, and he smiled sympathetically at the entire troop infront of him before his gaze finished onto the floor of the briefing room. "I know. I'm sorry. I wish we could give you more. If I had it, then I would give it to you guys, but I don't."

"Don't worry about it," Chuck intervened. "We'll have to make do with what we have."

Morgan nodded, and he raised his thumb appreciatingly up at Chuck.

"Where are we setting up camp?" Sarah asked.

"Overlooking the mosque in a block of apartments. We have commandeered two apartments for you to use," Morgan replied.

"That's nice of you," John Murray stated.

Morgan nodded and suppressed a laugh.

"Right then, Jamie, John, Dan and Bryce, go and fetch the necessary surveillance equipment that we will need on the operation and then go and change into your civvies once more once you have finished in the armoury. The rest of us do the same and then meet back here, and then we'll depart," Staff Sergeant MacDonald ordered, and Red Team all nodded as they departed the briefing room to head to the armoury and G Squadron's housing section of the base.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

"So, what's it like to be a member of Box 500 then?" Chuck asked Morgan on returning to the briefing room.

"Not as fun and as exciting as your career. We don't even get to carry a gun as you well know. And I kind of bluffed my way into the job by making out I knew more than I did. I knew that watching MacGyver would eventually pay off. Heh," Morgan joked, and Chuck nodded his head approvingly with a wide grin.

"Heh! I wish that would have helped me with my selection when I joined this outfit!" Chuck quipped back.

"What, you didn't need to do any bluffing? That's easy, then! I might change my career and apply for selection," Morgan joked, and Chuck suppressed a laugh as he shook his head.

"I'm not so sure it was easy, mate! It was the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life and probably ever will do!" he admitted.

"How did you get through it if it was so tough?" Morgan asked.

"I pretended I had died for six months," Chuck laughed out.

Morgan winced. "Wow, buddy, that's rough! I am suddenly having second thoughts about joining, heh," he said.

Chuck chuckled approvingly as he shook his head once more.

"Would you have still have done it if you had known what it was like beforehand?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah," he admitted with a nod.

"Wow, you guys really are something else!" Morgan declared in amazement, and he gazed at Chuck with a look of respect.

Chuck suppressed a laugh and nodded once more.

"What about you?" Morgan then asked, and Chuck watched as Morgan was looking behind him, and Chuck turned his body to the side, and his gaze connected onto Sarah.

"What about me?" Sarah asked as her gaze shifted between Chuck and Morgan.

"I was just talking with," Morgan paused to gaze at Chuck as he didn't know his name.

"Chuck," he introduced himself, and Morgan smiled at him before his gaze changed to Sarah once more.

"I was just talking with Chuck about how he got through his selection. What did you do in yours?"

"I pretended I'd died," Sarah admitted with a loving smile, and she rotated her gaze between Chuck and Morgan once more as both men began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"That's what I did in mine too," Chuck replied with a warm grin.

"Oh," she said as she gave him another loving smile before she walked off to another corner of the situation room.

"Wow, Chuck, your teammate is supermodel potential," Morgan declared on being alone with Chuck again.

Chuck shrugged as he replied, "No comment."

"What, you don't agree?" Morgan asked as he quirked his eyebrows.

"Morgan, it's not that I don't agree with you. It's just that she's my teammate first and foremost. How she looks is irrelevant to me. She is an exemplary soldier, and she is one of the best I have ever seen, and that's all that matters when she is on duty, not her looks. If we harbour any kind of feelings or distractions while on duty in our line of work, it could quite easily get our teammates or ourselves killed," he stated.

Morgan nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You guys are deadly!" Morgan declared, and Chuck laughed once more.

"Chuck, if I ever run into trouble, can I give you guys a ring to bail me out?" Morgan asked.

"Sure, why not," he agreed with a chuckle.

"Awesome!" Morgan declared.

"So, Chuck, this is a long shot. But, with you being a fan of MacGyver, I don't suppose you like Zork?" Morgan asked.

"You are likely to be eaten by a Grue," Chuck retorted.

A look of amazement formed on Morgan's face. "Holy crap! You do!" Morgan declared in sheer amazement.

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, I loved that game."

"It's probably stupid in the new millennia," Morgan started.

Chuck shook his head. "I disagree. The millennia belongs to the geek!" he declared with enthusiasm.

"I don't suppose you get to be a geek much in the SAS?" Morgan asked.

"Not really. Sometimes I wish I was in another job for the briefest of moments so that I could geek out twenty-four-seven, but then I remember how adventurous, and how exciting my life is, and there is nothing else I would rather do with my life," Chuck declared.

"So you don't want to switch jobs with me then?" Morgan asked humorously.

Chuck grinned before replying, "No, thanks. I'm _very_ happy where I am!"

They then shared brief laughter with each other. "I'll catch up with you again, Morgan," Chuck declared.

Morgan nodded. "Ok, Chuck, cya."

Chuck then departed away from Morgan, and he headed towards Sarah, who was hanging lamely inside the briefing room.

"Hi," he greeted her with a warm smile on stopping in her proximity.

She returned his smile. "Hey."

"Did your mum and Molly come over with your belongings yesterday?" he asked.

She nodded. "Uh-huh."

He smiled at her once more. "Cool."

"Did you go to Cole's for dinner as you agreed?" she asked.

He nodded as they shared another warm glance with each other. "Sophie was asking about you," he declared.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sophie loved meeting you, and she said she can't wait to spend time with you again," he revealed.

The teammates share another warm gaze. "She is lovely," Sarah declared.

He nodded. "Yeah, she is."

They then paused in brief silence for a few seconds until Chuck broke the silence between them, "Uh, Sarah."

"Yes, Chuck?" she asked as they held their gaze with each other.

"About the other night," he started as he looked anxiously at her.

Sarah turned fidgety. "Chuck, forget about it. We both agreed it was a mistake and a bad idea on my behalf, and it was. I think we should leave it there with no more said about it, ok?"

He nodded. "Ok. I'm happy with that."

They shared another warm gaze with each other. "Great."

The rest of Red and Blue Teams then arrived inside the briefing room in addition to Captain Wallace before the full troop including the Captain and Morgan all departed for Birmingham to begin their armed surveillance operation...

**End of Chapter**

**AN4** Next Chapter: Chuck and Sarah's armed surveillance mission. Including this scene:

"Chuck, kiss me!" Sarah commanded in a powerful whisper.

Chuck sunk his eyebrows into a frown as he gazed at her in complete shock over her command.

"Sarah, what the hell!?" he asked in utter shock.

"Chuck, kiss me now!" Sarah demanded in a much more commanding tone.

Well then! I wonder why this scene is going to occur? And will he agree to the demand? *smirk*

Find out, Next Chapter! Please leave your thoughts and feedback :) Did you like Morgan? What did you think of the breakup? Is that the last of Jill?


	11. Chapter 11

**AN1 **Hi, everyone. I will keep it short and sweet. I was happy with the review count for Ch9 and Ch10, and I intended to continue this story back in January, but then the idea of the Spy and the Soldier came to me, so I put this story on hold for a few weeks to type out my new concept. However, the review count was meagre for S&S, and I began to contemplate what to do when real life and low spirits to continue publishing live chapters hit me.

Who Dares Wins has had a four-month break, but I have not been inactive in this sandbox, far from it! Because I have taken MANY notes (easily 100,000), and many things have changed to make this story as good as it can possibly be. WDW now has an unbelievable amount of content that it did not previously have before my break. And in my opinion, the break when I took it was the best thing that I could ever have done because it has allowed me to make Who Dares Wins so much more than it would have been, had I not taken a break when I did. So without further ado, I will now get to work on posting the first dosage of that content.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

**News Now Media Corporation **

**Main Office**

**London**

**United Kingdom**

Jeffrey Barnes and Lester Patel entered inside the main entrance of the main office of their employer, News Now Media Corporation. Jeff and Lester had been working as journalists for News Now for the past five years. Their speciality in journalism was the showbiz and the entertainment industry. If you wanted to know what your favourite celebrity was up to, or what they ate for their breakfast yesterday, or who they had extramarital affairs with, then Jeff and Lester were your go-to reporters to find that information. They were the best in the industry when it came to finding out that specific type of information. Though the methods they had used to obtain that information were mostly illicit, and it had brought a lot of trouble for their employer over the years. However, while they were excellent reporters in their speciality, they each also possessed below-average intelligence, and they had been handed thousands of watchdog complaints over their invasive, insensitive or outright offensive reporting, with numerous police reports and criminal proceedings having had also been filed against them for harassment and intimidation.

That particular intimidation complaint had been filed against the pair when Jeff and Lester were caught on the private grounds of an unnamed celebrity, and they were removed from the property, with a formal complaint quickly being filed against them both. Subsequently, Jeff and Lester had approached the unnamed individual that had snitched on them in the following days, and Lester, along with numerous pieces of colourful language, had called him a rat. While Jeff had told the individual to sleep with one eye open. This quickly led to harassment and threatening charges being filed against them by the same individual, and this was just one of twenty-six incidents where Jeffster had brought their employer into disrepute in some capacity.

Frankly, Jeff and Lester were lucky that they still had jobs at News Now, after how much trouble they had each caused the organization. In addition to their watchdog and police complaints, they were frequently in trouble with News Now for publishing articles without sending it to their editor first, and for editing a story and re-including parts that the editor had removed just to make sure that their original article was published, and they were the worst in the industry for doing so. Jeffster had gained a reputation, and they had been nicknamed a long time ago as the Dumb and Dumber by the rest of the industry.

"Why does Big Mike want to see us, Jeffrey?" Lester asked, glancing at his best friend as they strolled without a care in the world over towards the attractive receptionist sat behind a desk on the ground floor of the building.

"Maybe somebody ate all of his doughnuts, and someone has implicated us as the culprits. Maybe I should order some nunchucks and start a Fight Club for when we find the snitch," Jeff said.

Lester began to get excited at the suggestion from his friend. "A Fight Club! I approve of this magnificent suggestion, Jeffrey! But you did eat the doughnuts last night when we raided the office together after-hours," Lester informed him.

Jeff paused from walking, and Lester stopped along with his best friend. Jeff then proceeded to grab hold of Lester, and Lester shrieked in fear.

"If you snitch, you're dead," he said with a menacing look as he began to stare at his friend without blinking.

Lester found it hard to look at his friend's intimidating stare. "Jeffrey, who do you take me for? I'm not a rat," he said, nervously.

"And make sure it stays that way. I have ammunition of my own. I know who drank his bottle of whiskey last night," Jeff said as he continued his menacing stare.

Lester suddenly broke from looking at his friend, and he began to look all around the reception area while he was still being grabbed hold off by Jeff to make sure nobody had heard his friend's declaration.

"Jeffrey, keep your voice down!" Lester said on glancing at his friend again.

Jeff then let go of his best friend, and they continued strolling until they arrived at the reception. Lester immediately attempted to open the door to the reception office so that he could get closer to the attractive receptionist sat behind the desk. Still, the door was locked, so he returned to the proximity of his friend, and Jeff began to wink at the receptionist. The receptionist became immediately irradiated at their presence, and she began to glance at them with disdain.

"Hello, hot stuff," Jeff said to the receptionist, and Lester snickered approvingly as Jeff began to ogle the young and attractive black haired receptionist. While at the same time, Lester turned a bit shy because he didn't find it easy to communicate with women.

"You're gross," the receptionist said in disgust, and she averted her glance away from Jeff.

Jeff completely ignored the receptionist's remarks, and he continued on, "How about we go in the back room right now, and I'll give you the best night of your life," he said, winking at her, as he raised a hand up to his face and he began to pick away at a boil that was irritating him.

Lester began to laugh approvingly at his best friend's comment before he stopped laughing because he came to a realization. "It's morning, Jeffrey," he said.

Jeff shrugged as he continued his ogling stare at the attractive receptionist. "Morning, night, who cares?" Jeff asked.

Lester took a moment to contemplate his friend's remarks before he nodded his head. "Good point."

Jeff suddenly reached out to grab hold of the receptionist's phone, despite an attempt from her to stop him from doing so, and on taking hold of the telephone, he began to speak into the receiver, "Hello? Hello! Is anybody there!"

The receptionist shook her head, while numerous other people present inside of the reception area all began to look at Jeff to query his loud outburst.

"Will you put that down right now? There is nobody on the telephone!" the receptionist said with contempt.

Jeff glanced at the receptionist. "Damn ear! I thought I heard it ring!" Jeff complained as he began to touch his ear that he was experiencing deafness from.

"I told you that you should get it checked out, Jeffrey," Lester said.

"I don't trust doctors. They are secretly cannibals, and when you exit their room, you come out genetically altered," Jeff declared.

Lester took a long moment to contemplate his friend's declaration. "I think you might be right, Jeffrey!" Lester said with concern.

Jeff nodded, and the two friends began to look at the receptionist once more.

"Will you two please go away!" the receptionist demanded, but the two friends ignored her and Lester continued on.

"So, beautiful lady, are you doing well today?" Lester asked, but he didn't give her the chance to speak, and he continued on when he saw her open her mouth to speak, "Of course you are, because I'm here now!"

"That's it! Security! I need some help here!" the receptionist called as she began to glance over to an area of the reception, and Jeff and Lester followed her glance onto two security officers.

"Five-O, Jeffrey!" Lester said in a panicked tone of voice.

"Oh crap, let's get out of here! I have… things... in my possession!" Jeff declared as the two friends quickly rushed off in a dash towards the elevators.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Jeff and Lester departed the elevator on arrival on the floor of their office. Strolling casually out of the elevator, they bumped into Fernando, a journalist at News Now.

"Fernando, are you losing weight?" Lester asked, as he began to pay close inspection to the physique of Fernando, while Jeff became occupied as he began to glance over at Anna Wu's desk from a distance.

Fernando was about to reply, but Lester interrupted him before he could speak on completing his inspections of Fernando's persona, "Nah, I didn't think so. But Jeffrey will be arranging a Fight Club pronto. We'll soon help you lose the calories, brother!"

Jeff finally broke his ogling gaze towards Anna Wu, and he noted the presence of Fernando for the first time.

"Hey man, have you seen Fernando?" he asked.

"I am Fernando?" Fernando said in confusion.

A look of puzzlement formed on Jeff's face and Lester began to snicker at his best friend.

"If you're Fernando, then who am I?" Jeff asked.

"Um, you're Jeff?" Fernando said in confusion.

Jeff took a moment to register Fernando's response. "It would appear that I am," he stated, eventually.

Jeff and Lester then continued on through the floor, but they stopped when they arrived in the presence of Skip Johnson, another journalist at News Now.

"Hey Skip," Jeff said.

"Hi Jeff," Skip replied.

Lester became occupied as he began to study and pay close attention to Skip's present hairstyle.

"Skip, my friend, some of us have naturally silky hair, while you, my friend, must have stuck a fork in an electrical outlet!" Lester declared as he laughed at his own joke, and he continued to stare at the hair of Skip Johnson.

Glancing around the room to make sure nobody was looking, Jeff then approached Skip and he moved to whisper into his ear. "Skip… Do you want some of my special coffee? It's a real pick me up!" Jeff asked as he winked at Skip, and he began to shake his thermos flask, and he offered it to Skip.

"Um, no thanks," Skip replied.

"Your loss," Jeff said nonchalantly, and Jeffster continued on until they arrived at the desk of Anna Wu, and the two friends moved to surround her as Lester moved to sit on her desk, while Jeff moved to stand behind her, causing her to turn uncomfortable at the feeling of becoming trapped by the two best friends.

"Good morning Anna, my little dim sum. You're looking particularly hot in a trashy fishnet stockings sorta way," Lester declared, and Jeff began to nod.

"Screw off, Lester!" Anna replied.

Lester smirked as he began to play with Anna's coffee cup, and she moved to swat his hand to get him to leave her coffee mug alone.

"Big Mike wants to see you," Anna Wu said.

"We know," Jeff replied.

"Do you um, happen to know what it's about?" Lester asked nervously, and he attempted to conceal his anxious facial expressions stemmed from Jeffster's activities inside the office the previous night.

"He's probably going to fire you," Anna Wu said.

Lester immediately began to shriek in dread, and he darted his glance onto Jeff.

"He knows about the whiskey, Jeffrey!" Lester said in a panicked state of mind.

"As long as he doesn't find out about the doughnuts, I'm good," Jeff stated.

"I will take you down with me, Jeffrey!" Lester said with determination.

Jeff moved to grab hold of Lester once more from where he was sat on Anna Wu's desk. "Talk, and you're dead, Lester! I'll pay you a visit with my nunchucks and strangle you in your sleep," Jeff stated as he gave Lester another menacing stare and Lester began to shriek once more.

Jeff then let go of Lester, and he turned his attention to Anna Wu as he moved into her proximity, and he proceeded to sniff her hair. "You smell like blueberries, Anna," he stated.

A gross facial expression began to form on Anna's face, and she stated, "And you smell like you haven't showered in twelve years, Jeff."

Lester suddenly burst into strong laughter for a good ten seconds over Anna's witty joke towards his best friend.

"Can you both leave me alone? I have work to do. And I would prefer to stay in my job, which is more than I can say for you two," Anna said.

"We will leave you alone when you go on a date with us," Jeff said, winking at her.

"Good shout, Jeffrey!" Lester said approvingly, and he raised his hand, and Jeff moved to high-five his best friend.

"In your dreams, Jeff, I would sooner go on a date with Skip," Anna declared.

"Did she just say she wants to go on a date with Skip?" Jeff asked.

Lester nodded. "I think she did, Jeffrey!" he paused as he glanced around the office floor in search of Skip. Once he located him, he shouted, "Skip! Anna wants to go on a date with you!"

Anna immediately moved to stand, and she began to hit away at Lester who was cowering in fear until they were interrupted by the sound of Big Mike, "Jeff, Lester, get in my office right now!" he demanded.

Anna began to look smugly at both Jeff and Lester. "Say goodbye to your jobs," she boasted.

Lester winced. "You're not a very nice girl, Anna," he said.

"Not to people I don't like," she said.

"We can easily change that," Jeff said, winking at her once more, and Lester nodded approvingly.

"I said now! You pair of halfwits!" Big Mike shouted.

After the latest reprimand, Jeff and Lester finally began to depart away from Anna Wu, and they quickly headed in the direction of Big Mike's office. Arriving just outside the door, they each began to emit a shushing motion with their fingers to each other, and they entered inside the room...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Do you know how much grief you have caused me since you misfits first joined this organization?"

Lester went to speak, but he stopped because Big Mike continued, "For a while, I even lost my love of a subway sandwich for god sake! How can a man lose his love for something as sacred as that? Well no more, I am done! Your latest screw up is the final straw! I have been waiting a long time to do this!" Big Mike paused, and Lester took a gulp of air. "You're fired!"

Jeff took no notice of Big Mike's words, and they didn't even register, while Lester began to gasp.

"God that felt good! I can't believe it took me so long! I feel better already!" Big Mike declared as he began to relax his shoulders as if a huge weight had just been removed from his person.

"That's how I feel every day. It's my special coffee. It never fails to pick me up," Jeff stated as he began to shake his flask once more.

"But Big Mike, you can't fire us! What about all of the stories we've reported on?" Lester protested.

"Stories?!" Big Mike said as he proceeded to slam his fist into the desk and Lester startled as he jumped out of his seat in surprise.

"You mean the twenty-six violations?!" Big Mike raged as he picked up a piece of paper which listed all of the citations that Jeff and Lester had accumulated while at News Now, and Jeff and Lester began to smirk in approval.

Big Mike then began to recite from the piece of paper in his hand, "Join Bang Bros today! It is Jeffster certified, and it is a super awesome way to spend your money! You can even get a coupon, just enter the code Jeffster, and you will receive a discount! What better way to spend your evening than to be in the company of some fine ladies, and some hot studs?"

Lester immediately burst into strong laughter on Big Mike recollecting the pornography advertisement that himself and his best friend had proudly written up more than two years ago.

"We had over six-hundred complaints from readers of our newspaper just from that advertisement alone!" Big Mike raged before he began to read through the rest of the violations in search of the next thing to read out.

"That coupon still works. I used it last week," Jeff declared.

"Anyway, that reporting is small-time," Lester started. "We've been thinking of branching out, expanding our horizons, if you get what I mean."

Big Mike paused from reading to glance at the two halfwits facing him as they both stood up, and they began to pace confidently around his office.

"Why swim in the pond, when you can fish in the ocean?" Jeff asked.

"Exactly, Jeffrey," Lester said in approval.

Big Mike took an extended moment in an attempt to figure out what the hell the two misfits were now rambling on about.

"You really both are the Dumb and Dumber! What on earth are you both rambling on about now?" Big Mike asked.

"Tell him, Jeffrey," Lester said, as he nodded over towards Big Mike.

Jeff glanced over at his friend, who was stood on the opposite side of Big Mike's office as they continued strolling around his office. "I can have the honours?" Jeff asked as he began to fill up with happiness and excitement.

"Hit him with the magic, Jeffrey! This is it, my brother, it's our time to shine!" Lester said with enthusiasm and drive.

It was at that point when Jeff immediately walked up to Big Mike, who was still seated, and he moved his head in close to Big Mike's, which caused Big Mike to startle on having one of the Dumb and Dumber's enter into his proximity.

"We want to do investigative reporting!" Jeff whispered in close to Big Mike as he began to wink at him from both eyes one at a time in a creepy sort of way, and Big Mike immediately burst into laughter, and he began to shake his head. He had had just about enough of Jeffster, and of their lunacy and their idiocy for five long years!

"Now that I would pay to see!" Big Mike declared as he tried to compose himself to stop himself from laughing any further, and he shook his head once more. "I tell you what, if you still want a job at News Now, then I'll give you three days to find me an investigative story, but I won't hold my breath."

"Does that mean we're no longer fired?" Jeff asked.

"Nope. You're still fired! You have three days to show me something if you want to be hired! Now get out of here, because I have far more important things to deal with than to give you two my attention all day," Big Mike stated, as he began to glance at a foot-long chicken-teriyaki sandwich.

"We'll make you proud, Big Mike!" Lester said with confidence.

"I won't count on it," Big Mike stated, as he moved to pick up the sandwich.

Jeff and Lester then departed out of Big Mike's office, and Lester was now worked up in an excited frame of mind over the new kind of reporting that they would now partake in and he jumped up into the air with joy as he raised his arms. Both Jeff and Lester had been planning this for several weeks, and he was very excited that Big Mike had given them a chance to show what they could do.

"I always knew the van would come in useful," Jeff stated.

"This will make us famous, Jeffrey!" Lester boasted with excitement.

"Yeah, just think of all the girls lining up to get our autographs," Jeff said.

"Amen, Jeffrey!" Lester said as he dragged out his words and he closed his eyes in delight.

The best friends then began to depart from the office, and they arrived by Anna Wu's desk, forgetting all about her. Usually, they would stop and annoy her, but they had bigger fish to fry, so she wasn't even on their minds.

"What was that all about?" Anna asked as she stood up and left her cubicle, and she walked up to Jeff and Lester, and they both paused with Anna now stood in front of them.

"Promotion," Lester started, but Jeff quickly admitted, "He fired us."

Lester began to shake his head, and he looked at Jeff with discontent. "Thank you, Jeffrey!" Lester said sarcastically.

Anna began to laugh at them.

"You may laugh now, my little dim sum, but myself and Jeffrey are about to blow up big time, just you wait and see! And then you'll want to join us, and we'll let you, but you'll have to get in our good books first. Come on, Jeffrey, we have some investigating to do!" Lester said as he began to pull on Jeff's arm, and Jeff allowed himself to be pulled while gazing back at Anna Wu and he winked at her.

"See ya, losers!" Anna shouted after them, and Jeff and Lester quickly disappeared from sight, and they promptly departed the News Now office, and they headed to Jeff's surveillance van.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Birmingham**

**United Kingdom**

A large SAS convoy containing eight vehicles carrying Mobility troop to their surveillance mission pulled to a stop at their destination, which was the rear of an apartment complex that was overlooking their mission objective, the East Road Mosque. The entire troop were tasked with placing the Mosque under armed surveillance in a bid to thwart and foil the planned terrorist attack aimed at killing a British soldier outside his barracks via a vehicular ramming and subsequent knife attack in the city.

The soldiers all began to depart from the vehicles. Usually after a long drive, they would want to stretch their legs. But for operational security purposes, the entire troop in addition to Morgan and Captain Wallace quickly hurried inside the apartment complex to minimize the risk of the crack special forces team being compromised.

Once inside, they began to ascend on up to the two apartments that had been commandeered for the SAS to use at their disposal for the duration of the mission.

And as the crack special forces team ascended the stairwell, Sarah called out to her CO, Captain Wallace, who was ascending just ahead of her, "Boss?"

"Yes, Trooper?" Captain Wallace asked, glancing at her as they continued to walk.

"If any damage occurs to my vehicle during this mission, then it's covered, right?" she asked, which caused laughter amongst most of the sixteen soldiers, including Chuck, who was ascending the stairwell right behind her.

"Of course, Trooper. The Regiment will even have it repaired for you. You won't even need to lift a finger," the Captain stated reassuringly.

Sarah smiled at her CO. "Thank you."

"Are you worried about damaging your pride and joy?" Chuck teased.

Sarah looked behind herself, and she shot Chuck a disapproving glance. "Chuck, it's ok for you, you didn't come in yours!" she protested as they continued to ascend the stairwell and the troop continued to share laughter.

"You're right, I didn't. But I've had my car used in previous ops. Luckily I'm too good of a driver to have ever had it damaged beyond some minor scratches to the paintwork," Chuck joked as half of the troop burst into approving laughter at their comrade's humour.

"Always the show-off," Chris stated with a smirk as Mobility troop arrived at their objective and the troop split off into two groups as Red Team entered one of the apartments, and Blue Team entered into the other.

Once inside, the team took in their surroundings, and they witnessed several MI5 employees already present inside of the apartment. The MI5 employees had already set up shop with numerous pieces of sophisticated surveillance technology already placed around the apartment that was overlooking the Mosque.

Morgan then began to speak, "During the journey here, I was updated that MI5 now believes with _strong_ confidence that the cell operating out of that Mosque," Morgan paused, as he began to glance out of the window of the apartment, "will carry out the attack at some point this week."

"Have you obtained any more information about who is part of the actual cell yet?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked.

"No. We are still in the dark as to the identities of the jihadists," Morgan stated.

Most of the team nodded.

"Right then, let's get started!" Captain Wallace said, and the SAS team began to set up their gear.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**Somewhere in London**

**Mobile Inside Jeff's Van**

"Jeffrey, stop the van! I think I have found something!" Lester said excitedly, with his eyes glued onto a laptop screen in the back of Jeff's van.

Jeff quickly pulled the van to a stop, and he parked up on the sidewalk of the road. He then moved to climb into the rear of the van.

"What have you got?" Jeff asked.

"I was searching through the dark web when I encountered a jihadist website. Some very bad homies that like to blow things up are plotting to attack a soldier in Birmingham. They even gave their place of worship! This is it, Jeffrey! We have been waiting our entire lives for this moment! We are about to become famous!" Lester said excitedly.

"Cool," Jeff said as he began to nod his head in approval.

"Let's fire up our cameras, Jeffrey Barnes, and show the world what Jeffster can do!" Lester cried out his call to arms to his comrade.

"Awesome!" Jeff declared.

"You bet it is, Jeffrey!" Lester said with excitement.

"So, where to?" Jeff asked.

"To the East Road Mosque in Birmingham, my brother!" Lester said.

Jeff nodded, and the two best friends began to move to climb into the front seats of the van.

"Will there be any women?" Jeff asked on them finishing their repositioning.

"The women will come later, Jeffrey. When this footage becomes the most viewed content in the entire world, then everybody will know of the exploits of Jeffster! This is bigger than we could ever have imagined!" Lester said, and Jeff fired up the engine, and they departed for Birmingham.

**End of Chapter**

**Next Chapter**: The surveillance mission plays out in front of our eyes, and we experience this teaser: "Chuck, kiss me!" Sarah commanded in a powerful whisper.

Chuck sunk his eyebrows into a frown as he gazed at her in complete shock over her command.

"Sarah, what the hell!?" he asked in utter shock.

"Chuck, kiss me now!" Sarah demanded in a much more commanding tone.

Well then! I wonder why this scene is going to occur? And will he agree to the demand? *smirk*

**AN2 **Chapter 11 was always intended to be the surveillance mission, but that was until the idea of Jeffster sparked into my mind. I know they are both idiots, but they will link the next six or seven chapters together. Trust me. This chapter was vital, and I felt it was better to end the chapter with Jeffster departing for their collision course with the SAS in Birmingham :)

**AN3 **Please review and share your thoughts! Thank you.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN1 **The focus of this chapter is Chuck and Sarah, and Red Team's bid to foil the impending terrorist attack.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Twelve**

* * *

**Birmingham**

**United Kingdom**

Corporal Bartowski and Trooper Walker exited the rear of the apartment complex facing the East Road Mosque dressed in civilian clothes, and they were each wearing baseball caps. They were preparing to become mobile, and the reason that numerous members of Mobility troop had brought their own cars for the operation, was so that the SAS troop could split into teams of two. Conducting their mobile surveillance in their personal unmarked transports that did not stand out as SAS vehicles would allow them to safely observe as many people as possible that entered or exited the Mosque without risk of detection. It was also for that reason why every member of Mobility troop was wearing civilian attire, and it was also why Chuck and Sarah were just armed with their Sig Sauer P226 personal sidearms, instead of heavier weaponry.

"It's been a while since I last wore a baseball cap," Sarah said, glancing at Chuck as they made their way over to her car, and they prepared to become mobile to shadow their assigned target once he departed from the Mosque.

"You look good in it," Chuck declared, grinning.

She smiled at her teammate. "Thank you."

"What about me? How am I looking in mine?" Chuck asked, winking at her as he began to play with the cap on his head.

She laughed for a short moment. "Like a tennis player," she teased.

He narrowed his eyebrows. "Depending on the player, that's either a compliment or an insult," he stated.

"I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions about that," she said with a smile.

The teammates then moved to enter into her car. "Well considering how many insults you've been firing at me lately, I'll take it as a compliment," he said as he closed the car door after him, and he held his glance onto her.

She smiled at him in response, and they held their gaze on toward each other for a few more seconds, before Sarah averted her glance from Chuck, and she pushed hold of her communications button placed inside the pocket of her jeans, and she said, "Red Four and Red Eight, mobile."

"Affirmative," Captain Wallace replied.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Jeff turned his van onto a street, and he continued to drive his van up the road when Lester became aware of an attractive blonde female wearing a baseball cap exiting an apartment complex with a tall, well-built male who was also wearing a baseball cap following after her.

"Oh, good lord!" Lester murmured in approval as he licked his lips and he focused his glance onto the attractive blonde wearing the baseball cap.

"Jeffrey, pull over!" Lester commanded, and Jeff did as he was instructed, and he pulled over on the sidewalk of the road.

"What is it?" Jeff asked as he began to glance at his friend.

"A super attractive, blonde, Vicki Vale lookalike at five o'clock, Jeffrey!" Lester said in excitement.

Jeff began to glance out of his side mirror, and he observed as the female in the baseball cap shared a laugh and a smile with the guy in her company, before they moved to enter into a car together.

"You said there would be no women," Jeff stated as he glanced accusingly at his friend.

"I was very much mistaken, Jeffrey!" Lester said.

"I wonder how much he is paying her?" Jeff asked as he began to glance out of his mirror at the attractive blonde once more.

"More than he can afford, I'm sure," Lester said.

Jeff nodded as he held his gaze onto the breathtaking blonde now sat inside her car with her male companion. "What I would give to talk to a woman like that," Jeff declared, enviously.

"You and me both, Jeffrey! Let's follow Blondie and her boy toy. If we're lucky, we'll be able to record some footage of Blondie and her stud in action together in her car," Lester said, forgetting all about why they came here in the first place.

Working himself up into a very excited state over Lester's suggestion, Jeff began to sharply nod his head in excitement.

Blondie and her companion then became mobile, and Jeff and Lester began to shadow them in pursuit of some erotic action to film and record.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"So… You're a sniper," Sarah stated, glancing at Chuck sat next to her. He had a scope in his hand that he was using to observe a car just a short distance ahead of them that they now had under surveillance.

"Yeah, which means that I get the best missions," he boasted, grinning at her.

She scoffed, and she began to glance at him again. "Oh, I'm sure you do," she stated in agreement.

"Are you jealous?" he teased.

She shook her head while affording him a brief glance once more. "Nope."

"Not even a little?" he continued in the same teasing tone.

Shaking her head dismissively once more, she said, "No."

He began to shake his own head. "Tsk, tsk! You're no fun," he declared, grinning at her.

"I resent those remarks! I am very fun," she protested as she began to laugh.

"I highly doubt that," he retorted, and he continued in his attempts to wind up his teammate.

Affording him another glance, she smiled at him, and she said, "Watch it!"

He nodded. "Yeah, I suppose I'd better. I'd hate to end up with another knee to the nuts!" he complained.

Sarah laughed. "I'm glad we're on the same page."

"Though if you did it again, you'd get one back this time," he added in.

Sarah laughed softly. "That would be hard, considering I don't have any!" she said, smugly.

Chuck frowned his eyebrows. "Are you sure about that? Because I always thought you was a bloke," he teased.

She shot him another brief glare. "Now you really are pushing it!" she said with a wide smile.

He began to laugh in satisfaction while holding onto a wide grin for a long moment.

"Though FYI, while we're talking about snipers, I'm not even the best marksman in my families' history," he stated.

She glanced at him once more. "Oh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was a sharpshooter in the 95th Rifles back in 1810. Now those were crack shots!" he declared.

"Wow, I'm impressed!" Sarah said with a look of amazement.

He grinned. "Yeah, I thought you would be. With you being a riflewoman yourself. Though I'm not sure about you being a rifle, 'cause you're a medic," he said as his grin changed into a smirk once she shot him another glare.

"Oh, it's so on! Once we get back on base, you can consider yourself challenged for a shooting contest!" she said with a loving smile, caused by her playful exchanges with her teammate.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Sarah? I wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself and for you to end up requesting a transfer," he said smugly.

"Yes, I'm sure. And keep talking, because I will just use your words as motivation to beat you," she stated.

He laughed. "You're a talker, Sarah, I'll give you that. But I'm afraid that's all that you are."

Glancing at him with a smile once more, she said, "We'll see."

He nodded. "Yeah, we will. The quicker we get this mission over with, the quicker I can now embarrass you."

"I can't wait to make you eat your words and wipe that smug look off your face, Chuck," she said playfully, glancing at him once more.

He didn't respond to her latest comment. Instead, he extended his smug look further...

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Blondie's stud is holding onto a scope, Jeffrey," Lester informed his friend as he looked through his camera at the Vauxhall Corsa D a short distance in front of the two friends.

"Why does he have a scope?" Jeff asked in confusion.

"An excellent question, Jeffrey! We must investigate this!" Lester stated.

Jeff nodded as the two friends continued on with their surveillance of the hot blonde wearing the baseball cap.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Do you ever regret following and continuing on with the traditions of your family, Chuck?" Sarah asked as she glanced at her comrade once more.

He shook his head. "Not even for a second. I'm not a violent person," he started, but he stopped because Sarah began to laugh sarcastically at him, and he became very agitated by her sudden rudeness with him. "Sarah, I take offence to that!" he stated in a serious tone.

Sarah's playfulness ceased, and she smiled remorsefully at him instead. "Chuck, I'm sorry. I'm just playing with you, ok?" she said.

He nodded, but he remained silent, and she could sense the frustration still present in his body language, so she continued on, "I know you're not a violent person… In fact, you're the nicest guy I've ever met in my whole life. You use a reasonable amount of violence to keep yourself, and your friends safe so we can all come home alive. _Nobody_ can ever hold that against you, Chuck."

"That's exactly what I was going to say before you laughed sarcastically at me," he complained in a continued confrontational tone.

She nodded. "I know," she said. "I was just playing with you, Chuck. I didn't think you would bite my head off about it."

He nodded. "I'm sorry," he said.

She smiled. "Me too," she replied as she continued to tail the target that they had under surveillance.

The two comrades remained in awkward silence for a short moment until Sarah broke the silence once more, "Chuck, please continue with where you were at before I interrupted."

He nodded. "Well, as I was saying, I don't like violence, but I _do_ love the army. It gave me a purpose. It made me a far greater man than I could ever have hoped to be had I not joined, and I doubt that I would have had the friends that I now have if I was in the civilian world instead," he stated.

Sarah glanced at him once more, and she sported him a loving smile. "No, I totally agree, Chuck. Everything you have just said is exactly why I love the army myself," she said.

He smiled at her for the first time since her insensitive playfulness.

"What would it have been if you were in the civilian world instead, though?" she asked.

"Computer engineering," he admitted with a laugh, which she shared. "I'd have probably at best case, ended up in a job like Morgan."

Sarah suppressed a laugh. "Another Male Box 500?" she joked.

Chuck emitted a brief chuckle. "Exactly, and we all know that James Bond and MI6 are far better than their sisters," he declared.

"Granted," Sarah replied as she began to grin at her comrade.

"And you wouldn't have met me," he then added in.

Sarah glanced affectionately at her teammate once more. "That wouldn't have been such a bad thing," she teased.

Grinning at her, he shook his head. "Let me out of this car right now. I'll carry out my own surveillance, on foot!" he said.

Sarah laughed. "Captain Wallace would lynch me if I did that, so no," she retorted.

He laughed. "Oh, so that's the only reason you won't let me out then is it?" he asked.

Glancing at him once more, she said, "Yes, because I want rid of you too."

The two comrades and friends shared laughter with each other.

"I hate you," Chuck declared.

"No, you don't," she replied.

"Uh-huh, yes I do," he fired back.

She glanced at him once more. "You're obsessed with me. You're becoming a stalker," she stated with a loving grin.

He began to laugh slash scoff. "Yeah, in your dreams, Sarah! Who would want to stalk you?" he asked.

"Um, you would?" she laughed as she gazed at him once more, and he laughed along with her.

"You're unbearable!" he declared with a grin.

She glanced at him, and she returned his warm gaze. "I know I am, but so are you. I guess that's what makes us good partners," she declared.

Continuing to hold his grin on toward her, he said, "Oh, so you're calling us partners now? The rest of the team won't be happy about that, Sarah."

She glanced at him once more, and still holding her warm smile, she said, "Our little secret?"

He shook his head. "You're going to have to do some grovelling to get into my good books after everything you've just said to me before I can keep your secret, Sarah!" he declared with a grin.

"Well, I would offer you the best night of your life because I'm sure that would get me into your good books, but you've already refused it once," she retorted.

He immediately did a double-take, and he began to wince over Sarah's remarks about their close encounter with each other just a few nights ago.

Chuck then started to cough in embarrassment, before he said, "Um, about that."

She glanced at him once more. "Chuck, it's ok. We agreed to forget about it," she said.

He nodded. "I know we did, but you're obviously still hurting about it," he said, and she was about to speak, but she stopped when he continued on, "Look, Sarah..." he said, but he paused briefly. "You are extremely beautiful. And I do mean_ extremely_. Refusing your invitation the other night was a mixture of temporary insanity, but also because I'm not a dirty, no good, rotten, two-timing snake!"

Sarah laughed for a short moment before she glanced at him with a smile, and she said, "And that's why I like you."

He returned her smile, and making complete eye contact with her, he said with confidence, "And I like you too. Actually, I _really_ like you."

Sarah smiled at his declaration. "But you're not a two-timing snake, which I get, but it sucks for me," she complained.

He coughed briefly. "Um, about that," he started.

She glanced briefly at him once more to query his words.

"Jill is actually history, as of Sunday morning. Because we broke up," he admitted.

It was Sarah's turn to do a double-take, and she began to blink as she began to register the implications of his words.

"I can't say I'm sorry. She was a bitch to you, and everybody knew it," she finally said after a prolonged pause.

He nodded. "I know."

"What caused it? Was it because you came to help me, and because we went out?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes and no. Sarah, it had been a long time coming. She had been treating me like crap and showing total discontent towards my chosen career for many, many months before you came along, so please don't blame yourself. You played no part in my relationship with Jill ending," he stressed.

Sarah laughed. "Chuck, I don't blame myself. There's only one person to blame for your relationship ending, and if she doesn't already know it herself, then she truly is a bitch," she stated.

"I am kind of glad it's over. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and I can just be myself again," he declared.

She glanced at him once more, and she smiled at him. "I am glad you are feeling happy again. We've only known each other for a few weeks, and every time I saw you off duty, Jill had done something to piss you off. It wasn't fair how she treated you."

Chuck returned her smile. "Thank you," he said.

The two comrades and friends then entered into a brief silence for the next few minutes as they continued to tail their surveillance target.

"Well, I hope this has cleared the air between us. Because when I saw you in the canteen yesterday morning and I smiled at you, you blew me off," Chuck said, breaking the silence.

Sarah glanced at him, and she began to smile. "Yeah, it has."

Chuck returned her warm gaze, and he said, "So, friends then?"

She afforded him another brief glance, and with a nod of her head and a smile, she said, "Yeah. Friends."

The two comrades and friends then concentrated on with their assignment once more.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Blondie and her stud are an odd couple, Jeffrey. They are just driving around in circles with the stud constantly looking out of his scope. I am starting to believe that all is not as it seems!" Lester said as he continued to tail Blondie and her stud in Jeff's surveillance van.

"What do you have in mind?" Jeff asked his friend.

"I am glad that you asked, Jeffrey, because I think that what if Blondie's stud is not actually her stud? What if instead he is her Pimp, and he is using the scope to scour for women to abduct to force them to submit to his sinister ways?" Lester suggested as he began to laugh hysterically while feeling very proud of his sophisticated hypothesis of the situation.

Jeff began to ponder his friend's suggestion for a brief moment before he made his own counterpoint, "Or, what if they are aliens from another world, and they are searching for humans to abduct to enslave and to send back to their colony?"

Lester began to ponder his friend's explanation for a long moment, and his face filled up with puzzlement, and he moved his hand up to rest on his chin as he continued to contemplate Jeff's hypothesis.

"Either way, Jeffrey, this will need investigating!" Lester said, and Jeff nodded in agreement.

Lester then moved to turn on the camera he was holding, and he directed it so that it was in a position to be able to record himself.

"Video diary number one. We have eyes on Blondie and her Pimp," Lester started, but Jeff quickly interjected, "Or alien invader."

Lester nodded. "Thank you, Jeffrey. Correction: We have eyes on Blondie, or the female alien, and her Pimp, or the male alien. The Pimp is holding onto a scope, and we believe that he is scouring for women to abduct to use for his as yet unknown sinister ways. Citizens of Earth rest easy because you can be assured that Jeffster is in pursuit!" Lester finished, and he turned off the camera.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Did you find anything?" Captain Wallace asked.

Sarah shook her head as she closed the door to the apartment that the SAS had commandeered. "Nope, it was a dead end. We observed him pulling up outside his home. And then he began to help a frail and elderly woman that was his neighbour," she said.

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, and then we watched on as who we assume to be his wife, who was a Non-Muslim and Caucasian began to greet him, and two kids quickly joined them at the doorstep. He is evidently a devoted family man, and he is definitely not a jihadist," he said.

Captain Wallace and most of the soldiers and MI5 employees in the room all began to nod in agreement as Chuck and Sarah walked over to a board, and they crossed an X over the picture of the target they had been observing for the past few hours.

"I need a coffee," Sarah declared.

"Me too," Chuck said.

"Help yourselves, it's just boiled," Cole said as he nodded over towards the kettle placed on a worktop in the kitchen.

Chuck and Sarah nodded, and Chuck smiled at his best friend as the two teammates headed to make themselves a warm drink.

"Well, six targets down," Sarah stated.

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, but up to a hundred to go," he stated, anxiously.

Sarah nodded. "I wish we had more intelligence," she said.

"Yeah, but that's just the way that these operations are. We have to make do with what we have, and we have to just hope that we can catch them in time before their attack," he said.

Sarah nodded, and the two teammates proceeded to make themselves a warm beverage before returning to the surveillance equipment, and they began to survey the East Road Mosque once more.

**Sometime later**

The situation was still unchanged. Mobility troop, along with MI5, were either mobile in their transports with targets under observation or they were stationary and operating the surveillance equipment that was set up overlooking the East Road Mosque. No persons of interest had yet been discovered.

Chuck and Sarah were manning the surveillance cameras when John Murray and Jamie Hughes returned into the apartment that Red Team were using, and most of the MI5 employees and the soldiers in the apartment all began to gaze at the two returning soldiers.

"Any luck?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked.

John and Jamie shook their heads, and like Chuck and Sarah just earlier, they made for the board in the room that had surveillance pictures of every person that had been observed entering or exiting the Mosque so far. They then proceeded to cross out two pictures that were placed on the board with a red marker.

Most of the people inside the apartment began to sigh in despondence over the circumstances of the mission, because if MI5 were indeed correct, then time was vastly running out…

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Jeff and Lester departed from Jeff's surveillance van. Lester quickly dashed around to the other side of the van to link up with his friend.

"Do you have it, Jeffrey?" Lester asked, glancing at Jeff's hand.

Jeff nodded. "Yeah, but we're running out of them, Lester. We have been using a lot of trackers with News Now, and for the hot girls we've been following," he stated.

"We can get more, Jeffrey, your guy still has them, right?" Lester asked.

Jeff nodded. "Yeah. Ronald won't tell me where he gets them from because he knows that we would get them from his supplier directly."

"This is important work, Jeffrey! The safety of our civilization rests on this moment, and Jeffster will answer the Call to Arms!" Lester said.

Jeff nodded, and the friends began to stroll over towards Blondie's car. On arrival, they began to glance all around the vicinity in search of any watchful eyes. Feeling satisfied that they weren't being watched, Jeff quickly planted a tracker under the front wheel of Blondie's car.

Laughing and grinning at each other in excitement over their successful operation, the two friends returned into Jeff's surveillance vehicle.

"Blondie and her pimp will never give us the slip now, Jeffrey!" Lester declared.

"We'll show the alien invaders what Jeffster can do," Jeff stated.

Lester nodded, and the best friends moved to high-five.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Blue Team Leader Staff Sergeant Williams, and Blue Team Member Trooper Joe Lewis both entered into Red Team's apartment. Chuck, Dan and Staff Sergeant MacDonald were taking a temporary break, and they moved to greet and engage in conversation with their newly arrived comrades.

"How are you getting on?" Staff Sergeant Williams asked, glancing at Chuck, Dan and Chris.

"Shite, mate," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said in frustration.

Chuck and Dan nodded in agreement with their Team Leader's assessment of the situation.

"How about yourselves?" Cole asked as he came to join in the small gathering.

"Same. We've just had two returning with a dead end. This op is a piss-take, mate!" Staff Sergeant Williams complained, and everyone present in the group began to nod.

"We know that feeling, fellas. We've had nothing but dead ends since we arrived ourselves," Chuck stated.

"I smell a wager," Big Dan stated suddenly, and every soldier in the discussion all began to look at him, including Bryce, who came to join them, and he said, "A wager?" in a loud enough tone to cause Sarah, John, Jamie and several MI5 employees who were all on surveillance tasks to pause what they were doing and to glance at him instead to query his outburst.

The small group of soldiers that were present in the group all began to shake their heads in disapproval of Bryce's loud outburst.

"Could you say that any louder, you pillock? I don't think the jihadists in the Mosque, or Captain Wallace quite heard that!" Big Dan stated as the group continued shaking their heads at Bryce in contempt.

"Where is Wallace anyway?" Trooper Lewis asked.

"He's out on surveillance mate," Chuck said.

Trooper Lewis nodded.

"So, about that wager then?" Staff Sergeant Williams asked, and the members present in the discussion began to get excited once more.

Big Dan looked around briefly before he concentrated his gaze back on Staff Sergeant Williams. "The team that's first to find a jihadi is the winner," he said.

The gathering of soldiers all took a moment to ponder Big Dan's suggestion.

"I'll have some of that. Just to be clear, the winner must either capture or kill the jihadist, rather than just suspect them to be a jihadi, right?" Staff Sergeant Williams asked.

Big Dan nodded.

"Then I'm in," Staff Sergeant Williams stated.

"I'll have some of that," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said.

"Me too," Chuck said as he glanced at his best friend and Cole nodded affirmatively.

"Same here," Joe Lewis said, and Bryce nodded.

"What's the wager then?" Bryce then asked.

"Twenty?" Cole suggested.

Most of the soldiers present in the discussion all began to nod.

"I'll ask the lads if they're up for it. Keep it to yourselves though," Staff Sergeant Williams said, glancing at Bryce, the culprit of the earlier outburst.

The soldiers nodded once more before they then began to split off to do their own things.

"I'm looking forward to beating them already," Chuck boasted to Cole.

Cole suppressed a laugh and nodded in agreement. "You and me both, Chuck," he declared.

Chuck began to walk over towards his three teammates on surveillance duty, and they all glanced at him as he arrived in their vicinity.

"What was that all about?" Sarah asked.

Grinning as he glanced at Sarah, John and Jamie, who were all looking at him, he admitted, "A wager with Blue Team. The first team to capture or kill a jihadist is the winner."

Jamie and John immediately began suppressing laughter in approval, while Sarah shook her head in disapproval.

Having noted his teammate's disapproval, he asked, "What?" playfully.

"Men," she said, as she continued shaking her head.

"It was Dan's idea," Chuck protested with a smirk, and Jamie and John suppressed approving laughter once more.

"And you're just as bad as him for going along with it," she stated.

Smirking, he said, "So does that mean you're not in on the wager?"

She shook her head. "Oh, I have to be in on it, because I don't like being the odd one out. So thanks for that. This better not land me in any kind of trouble with Wallace," she protested.

"Don't say that to me, say it to Dan," Chuck said as he nodded over at Big Dan, and he began to suppress a laugh.

"I will!" she said with a smile.

"Women, ey?" Bryce complained as he arrived in the vicinity of the teammates.

Chuck nodded while fighting off the urge to laugh once more.

"What about you two? Are you both in on it?" Bryce asked, glancing at John Murray and Jamie Hughes.

"Of course we are, fella. If you knew us well enough, you'd know that you'd never even need to ask us if we were up for that. How could we resist taking their money?" John Murray said.

"Exactly, mate, I can't wait," Bryce boasted.

"Same here, mate. Joe Lewis has been pissing me off over something for a while. It will be a pleasure to take his money," Jamie Hughes said.

The teammates all shared laughter, while Sarah concentrated on her tasking while listening in to the conversation of her comrades at the same time.

"Remember how the last one went?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah, they got spanked!" Chuck boasted as the comrades and friends shared laughter once more.

"Amen to that, mate," John Murray finished, as the soldiers continued on with their tasking...

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Chuck and Sarah were stood on the pavement on the mosque side of the street, and they were idle just a few yards away from the entrance gate that led into the grounds of the Mosque. They were paused idle, and they had been engaged in light chatter with each other for several minutes as they awaited their two surveillance targets that had arrived at the Mosque on foot. The two subjects in question were middle eastern young adult males. Because they had arrived on foot, mobile surveillance was deemed too risky, because it would be easier to note if a car was following you, than it would be for a man and a woman to be walking together. Before Sarah had joined Mobility troop, the team did not possess the ability to have members of both sexes on a live operation, but now they did, and it was absolutely a tool that the SAS team would use and play to their advantage. However, there was also a mobile SAS team involved in tonight's surveillance operation. Jamie Hughes and Big Dan were on standby inside Jamie's car. It would be Jamie and Dan that would take the lead if Chuck and Sarah became compromised and had to abandon their pursuit.

Chuck and Sarah continued to remain in pause for a few minutes more when they both heard activity on their communications channel.

"Standby," Staff Sergeant MacDonald stated, and Chuck and Sarah became alert. "Your targets in question have exited the mosque, and the ETA for them to exit the grounds is thirty seconds."

Chuck immediately pushed his communications device two times to transmit that he had received and understood the information provided to him from his team leader.

Sure enough, the two subjects in question soon began to depart from the grounds of the East Road Mosque, and Chuck and Sarah remained idle in the spot they stood as they continued to gaze and smile at each other as if they were close acquaintances. Sarah's back was presently turned to the Mosque, while Chuck had a clear sight on the two subjects in question as they departed the gates and they began to walk towards Chuck and Sarah.

"So, what are you doing tonight? Are you busy?" Chuck asked her in a tone loud enough for the two subjects in question to overhear the chatter.

"No, why?" Sarah asked, holding her gaze onto Chuck.

Chuck continued his glance on toward Sarah as he asked, "I was thinking we could do something if you wanted?"

Sarah held her smile. "Sure. I'd like that," she replied softly.

"Great. What time best suits you then?" he asked as he continued to gaze both at Sarah, and at the two males under surveillance.

"About eight?" Sarah suggested.

Chuck nodded. "Eight sounds good," he said.

The two middle-eastern males then passed the back of Sarah, and Chuck observed as they strolled at a slow pace on past where Chuck and Sarah were stood.

Chuck and Sarah waited for a short moment longer to allow the middle eastern males to put enough distance between themselves before they began to walk in pursuit and to start their surveillance operation.

"You're clear to begin your surveillance," Staff Sergeant MacDonald said, who was posted up in one of the apartments and he had eyes on his teammates and the males under surveillance.

Chuck and Sarah immediately began walking at a slow pace, and they followed on behind the two males at a distance of just over twenty yards for a few minutes when the middle eastern men suddenly began to stop walking. Chuck and Sarah promptly came to a stop along with them, and Chuck turned his back on their targets to glance at Sarah instead.

Sarah then observed on as the middle eastern men began to walk back towards Chuck and Sarah, and she became instantly anxious and concerned as to the sudden change in direction from the males. She glanced at her teammate, who also was looking at her with concern.

Sarah shifted her gaze onto the two males once more, and they were quickly approaching the vicinity of Chuck and Sarah, and the two teammates were about to be made and have their operation compromised.

"Chuck, kiss me!" Sarah commanded suddenly in a powerful whisper, gazing at him.

Chuck sank his eyebrows into a frown, and he returned her gaze in complete shock over her sudden command.

"Sarah, what the hell!?" he whispered back as he held his gaze at her in utter shock.

"Chuck, kiss me now!" Sarah murmured in a much more commanding tone, and she gazed briefly at their two targets that were now just a few steps away from the back of Chuck, before glancing back at him and doing as best she could to tell her teammate that they were about to be made if he didn't kiss her this instant.

Luckily for them both, Chuck finally seemed to get the message, and he moved into Sarah's proximity, and he grabbed hold of her upper back in a forceful way, and he pushed her into him as the two teammates moved to connect their lips together.

Sarah no longer had any vision of the targets in question, due to Chuck's height blocking her view, so she closed her eyes, and she gripped tight hold of her teammate's shirt to help sell the act to their targets under surveillance.

And as Chuck and Sarah began to kiss each other for the first time, they both began to hear their two surveillance targets conversing with each other as they arrived in the immediate proximity of where Chuck and Sarah were stood making out with each other. Their dialogue was in Arabic, and neither Chuck nor Sarah could interpret what was being said.

Chuck then began to note out of his vision the two men appearing in his line of view, and he observed on as they continued walking as himself and Sarah continued to kiss.

Glancing briefly at Sarah, he noted her eyes closed, and he murmured, "They're moving on," into her lips.

She opened her eyes to look at him from where they stood, their faces an inch apart when suddenly, the two males paused from walking once more, and they then turned back as they began to walk in the direction that they had just come from once more.

It was now clear beyond all doubt that these two males in question had advanced counter-surveillance techniques, and Chuck was now convinced that these two individuals in question may likely be the jihadists that the SAS had been sent to capture or kill in the first place.

"They've turned and are coming right back at us. ETA ten seconds," Chuck murmured as he provided his teammate with another immediate status report.

Sarah began to glance at him with concern from where they stood making out with each other, only breaking the contact of their lips to regain air or to report in statuses.

Chuck and Sarah quickly once more began to hear dialogue being exchanged in Arabic, and the dialogue started to turn muter and muter until Chuck and Sarah could no longer hear their chatter.

"They've cleared off. I don't know what the fuck that was about but they have advanced counter-surveillance techniques. I would be seriously fucking surprised if they haven't made either of you two," Big Dan stated with concern.

"What the fuck was that!?" Jamie Hughes asked in total disbelief.

"Status?" Captain Wallace asked.

"We're not sure," Chuck stated as he finally broke to put some distance from the kiss with Sarah, and they began to look awkwardly at each other because of what they had just had to do together to avoid detection.

"Are you compromised?" Staff Sergeant MacDonald asked.

"We don't know, Chris," Sarah admitted.

"Proceed as though you aren't compromised, but if they double back again, then continue on ahead of them and abandon the pursuit," Captain Wallace ordered.

Chuck pushed his communications device two times once more to confirm acceptance of the message, and Chuck and Sarah continued to follow the middle eastern males at a slow pace.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Lester, please tell me that you got that!" Jeff stated as he finally broke his gaze from Blondie and her bit of rough to look at his friend instead.

The excitement was evident on Lester's face, and he put his camera down to rest, and he began to glance at Jeff.

"Every single second, Jeffrey! That was the hottest kiss I have ever seen! And we got all of it on video!" Lester exclaimed in extreme excitement.

"We need to make a montage of that with the best moments," Jeff declared.

Lester began to furiously nod. "An excellent suggestion, Jeffrey! Let's get started on it straight away!" he said in excitement.

Jeff nodded in extreme excitement, and they quickly fought with each other to be the one to get into the back of the van first so they could replay the footage of Blondie in a heated makeout session with her Pimp.

"I told you he was her Pimp, Jeffrey! Look at the way he grabs her! No girlfriend would allow her stud to grab her like that!" Lester stated as they replayed Blondie making out with her Pimp on video.

Jeff nodded. "I think you're right, Lester," he said as the two-minute video came to an end.

"Let's watch it again," Lester said.

Jeff nodded in extreme excitement once more as Lester hit replay.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Chuck, Sarah, Dan and Jamie returned into one of the apartments that the SAS had commandeered, and every member of Mobility troop was present inside of the room, in addition to all of the MI5 employees on the task force.

"We followed them into a store where they purchased ceramic knives," Chuck stated, and Sarah nodded as Sarah and Chuck glanced at everybody stood in front of them.

"In addition to their purchases, their counter-surveillance techniques and how slippery those fuckers were to follow now has me convinced that we've found our jihadists," Big Dan declared, and almost everybody in the room began to nod.

"Right, I want to find out everything about those two individuals. I want to know how many of them there are in this attack, I want to know who their friends are, and I want to know who they visit, and how long they spend there. As of this moment, these two individuals are under twenty-four-hour surveillance" Captain Wallace ordered.

"What about the rest of them?" Staff Sergeant Williams asked, glancing at the board with many pictures placed onto it.

"We are now out of time. We just have to hope that these individuals are the ones that we are searching for," Captain Wallace stated.

Most of Mobility troop and the MI5 contingent all began to nod.

"Let's get on with it!" Captain Wallace ordered, as the soldiers and MI5 personnel immediately got to work on their tasking.

**Sometime later**

Since they had arrived back from their surveillance mission, Chuck and Sarah had avoided each other. They both found it awkward to be around each other right now, after what had happened out on the street some hours ago. They had never had to kiss somebody in the line of duty before, and for both of them, it was an uncomfortable experience, and it was one that neither of them had been trained for. While there was an undeniable attraction between the two of them, they were both also the consummate professionals, and their primary and only focus was to prevent a brother in arms from being beheaded by a group of jihadists that were out on a determined crusade to kill him. They couldn't allow anything to compromise or to cloud their judgment, so they needed to clear the air with each other over what had happened.

Sensing it was the ideal time to clear the air because Sarah was alone in a corner of the room, Chuck approached her, and she met his gaze as they began to glance awkwardly at each other, and they found it hard to make eye contact beyond an anxious glance.

"Hi," he said.

"Hey," she replied.

"Um, Sarah, about earlier," Chuck started.

Sarah met his gaze. "Chuck now isn't the time," she said.

He nodded. "I know… But," he started, but Sarah quickly cut in.

"Chuck, we did what we had to do. If we hadn't have kissed, we would have been compromised, and if these really are the jihadists, then we may have likely blown the operation."

"Sarah, I get that, and I totally agree with you. But don't you just feel a little bit awkward about the fact that we have just kissed the face off of each other for a good few minutes, in a public place, with our teammates and hell even jihadis watching on?"

Sarah blinked, and she met his gaze once more. "Chuck, I have never felt more awkward in my entire life than how I am feeling around you right now. I'm finding it hard to even look at you in embarrassment over what we did. But we need to get on with our jobs. If we are distracted by this, then our heads aren't in the game, and I won't be able to handle the torment if we somehow screw up this mission all because of what happened between us," she admitted.

"Nor will I. So what do we do to stop that from happening?" he asked.

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know..." she admitted, and they paused for an extended moment as they continued to gaze awkwardly at each other.

He sighed for a long moment. "I don't know either," he said before he paused as he attempted to get his brain aligned with a course of action for them both. "Look, I don't think we can act like it didn't happen, because it has. But we need to focus on the mission. Maybe if we can agree to talk about what happened when we're back in Hereford, then maybe we'll be able to concentrate and look at each other without thinking about what happened because we can compartmentalize it and set it aside until we get back?"

Sarah gazed at Chuck for a brief moment as she began to contemplate his words.

"I think that's all that we can do, Chuck," Sarah admitted.

Chuck nodded. "Ok, so let's do exactly that and let's have no more awkwardness or talk about it starting from now," he said.

Sarah nodded. "Ok."

They then smiled at each other, and they proceeded on with their tasks.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**The next day**

Chuck and Sarah were inside Sarah's car, and they were tailing the suspected jihadists, and they had been doing so for the past thirty minutes. The two suspected jihadists that Chuck and Sarah had had under surveillance yesterday had stopped once, and they had picked up a third middle eastern male.

"Suspects have entered onto Baker Street," Sarah reported as the two teammates continued on with their surveillance.

"They have now entered Riley Street," Sarah stated.

Captain Wallace suddenly came onto comms. "Be advised, based on map information we have looked at, persons of interest are getting closer and closer to The Prince of Wales Barracks."

Chuck and Sarah began to glance at each other with a look of concern, and their adrenalin began to build.

"You may need to intercept at a moment's notice," Captain Wallace stated.

"If you call it, we'll do it, boss," Chuck said.

"I'm dispatching reinforcements because I have a funny feeling about this," Captain Wallace said.

"So do I," Sarah retorted.

Sarah and Chuck continued to tail the vehicle in question for another two minutes until it turned into another road, and Chuck and Sarah quickly followed into the road. Once they had turned onto the street, their eyes connected onto a barracks to the left of them.

"The suspects are now on Williams Street," Sarah stated.

"Proceed ahead with armed intercept. Reinforcements are on route," Captain Wallace stated into comms.

Chuck and Sarah darted their glance onto each other, and their already building adrenalin quickly exploded through the roof.

"Ram the fuckers!" Chuck commanded, glancing at her.

"No!" Sarah complained in a troubled frame of mind over the prospect of her personal vehicle being significantly damaged.

Chuck shot her a look of frustration. "Sarah, this is it! The fucking bastards are about to get what they came for! You can see the fucking soldier walking on the sidewalk over there!" Chuck shouted at his teammate as he pointed at a lone soldier that was walking along the pavement outside of his barracks and they observed as the car they had been tasked with intercepting began to pick up the pace.

Sarah also began to pick up the pace of her vehicle to match with the suspects' car, but she was still hesitant with moving in to ramming the vehicle.

"If you don't ram them motherfuckers right this instant, then I'll stop them with other ways! What the fuck are you playing at?" Chuck shouted at her as he drew out his pistol, and he began to line up his sidearm at the rear tires of the vehicle.

Sighing to herself, and knowing that now was the time for immediate action, Sarah put her foot on the gas, and she accelerated at a rapid pace. She then performed a ramming manoeuvre onto the right-side rear of the suspects' vehicle. The two teammates instantly jolted forward, caused by the high-speed crash, but their seatbelts saved them from any significant harm beyond a crushing feeling from the belts locking. Chuck quickly threw off his seatbelt, and he was out of Sarah's now smashed up car in an instant, with Sarah immediately following him out of the vehicle.

"BRITISH ARMY! DON'T YOU MOVE OR I'LL FIRE!" Chuck warned as he lined up his pistol at two middle eastern men that had departed from the suspect vehicle.

One of them turned to look at Chuck. At the same time, the second took no notice when suddenly, the two males began to scream out, "ALLAHU AKBAR", while the one that had turned to Chuck then began to charge towards him with a ceramic knife drawn in his hand. At the same time, the second x-ray began to charge over to the soldier that Chuck and Sarah had spotted over on the sidewalk when they first entered onto the road.

Chuck took no time in hesitating, with his training having afforded him that ability, and having already given a verbal warning, in addition to the x-ray turning hostile, Chuck discharged two rounds from his Sig Sauer P226 at point-blank range into the mouth of the first x-ray. He then immediately shifted his attention towards the second x-ray that was barreling towards the unarmed soldier that was preparing to defend himself to receive an enemy combatant.

Chuck proceeded to line up the shot, and he discharged a double-tap directed towards the back of the head of the terrorist that was charging at his Brother in Arms. The terrorist quickly dropped, and he slumped forward onto the floor, and the innocent soldier that was the intended target ran to the body. He then proceeded to kick away the knife with one foot, and he began to stamp with his other foot onto the back of the terrorist on the floor to keep him in place.

With the regular soldier disarming one of the terrorists, Chuck was about to change his attention back onto the first terrorist that he had neutralized when suddenly, he heard his teammate scream out, "ARMED!", and he quickly shot his glance behind himself. He then observed as Sarah discharged a significant number of rounds from her sidearm into the car that they had just intercepted. Chuck's attention changed entirely into the driver's seat as he also began to discharge rounds into the vehicle with his partner having confirmed that a terrorist was armed inside of that vehicle.

The three soldiers were quickly joined as numerous soldiers, and military police began to storm out of the barracks, with a significant portion of them also being armed.

Chuck's glance was now looking inside the vehicle, and the driver of the vehicle was now deceased, but he had a pistol within his immediate proximity.

"BRITISH ARMY!" several soldiers suddenly began to scream at Chuck and Sarah, and they raised their weapons towards them due to gunfire occurring outside of the barracks. The soldiers were obviously treating the incident as a hostile threat to themselves and to the public.

"BLUE ON BLUE! SAS! ARMED SURVEILLANCE—TERRORIST ATTACK!" Chuck screamed back at his Brothers in Arms without making any sudden hand movements, and the first responder soldiers shifted their glances onto the deceased terrorists. They quickly ascertained the presence of knives within their proximity, and they promptly lowered their weapons from being raised at their comrades.

"How can we help?" An armed soldier asked Chuck.

Chuck changed his glance onto his Brother in Arms, and he said, "I'm fearful of secondary attackers! We have reinforcements on route! I need you to secure the area!"

The numerous soldiers in Chuck and Sarah's vicinity all nodded, and they proceeded to spread out as they prepared to receive further armed hostiles…

End of Chapter

Next Chapter: The aftermath of the foiled terrorist attack and things get very hot for Charah. Don't take my word for it, take Big Dan's word for it!

"So how long do you reckon it will be before those two are taking each other's clothes off?" Big Dan asked his teammates.

"From the looks they were giving each other when I dropped them both off at Chuck's, I'd say they have already done so," Jamie Hughes said with an approving smirk.

The five drunken teammates all suddenly burst into approving laughter, except for Bryce, whose gaze hit the floor.

**AN2** This was a really long chapter. Please leave your thoughts and feedback with a review. It is most appreciated. Thank you


	13. Chapter 13

**AN1** I guess this author's note is to say goodbye :) I will likely be changing the rating of Who Dares Wins to a mature-rated fiction in the coming days. The reality is that I have lost my teen readership in all of my stories, and it has been like that now for quite some time. If my stuff is not wanted here, then it's not wanted. I won't cry about that. Instead, I will disappear into the shadows, and I will cease to publish any further teen rated stories to this fandom moving forward.

So what does the future hold for Who Dares Wins, and for the rest of my Chuck stories you might ask? Well, I am glad that you asked :) I am 99% sure that I will be giving Who Dares Wins a chance to develop a readership as a mature story, and I will see how it's received in the form of review count. If Who Dares Wins is not received well as an M rated fiction, then I will walk away from the story on this website, and there will be no further Who Dares Wins updates to this website, even once it's completed. If people don't want to share the story with me now, then they likely won't even once it's finished.

As for The Spy and the Soldier, I will also give S&S a final few chances to develop an expressed readership at T rated. But if I'm not happy with the numbers in that particular sandbox, then the fiction will be abandoned indefinitely, and it may never receive an update again.

Well, I think this about covers everything. I will now get on with the chapter. And if this really is goodbye, then I can only say that I have enjoyed my eight years here in Chuck fanfiction, and I hope you all continue to enjoy the fictions posted by the great Chuck authors that we have.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

"Great job, you two. Inch perfect," Captain Wallace declared, glancing at Chuck and Sarah with approval.

Chuck and Sarah both nodded at their boss. After a firefight just a short while ago, their adrenalin levels were still through the roof, and it would take some time for both of them to cool off and to return to normal after the gunfight, and their foiling of the jihadist attack that was just seconds away from coming to its fruition.

"I'm sorry about your car, Trooper," Captain Wallace said, glancing at Sarah.

On receiving the cue from Captain Wallace, most of Mobility troop began to observe the state of the front side of Sarah's personal vehicle, which would now not look too out of place at a scrapyard.

Sarah opened her mouth to thank her boss, but she paused dead in her tracks because most of the troop suddenly burst into laughter on completing their observations. Sarah quickly shot each member that was laughing at the condition of her car a distasteful glare.

"It's not funny!" Sarah protested as she continued to gaze at her comrades that were laughing at her over the condition of her car.

"She's right! It's not funny! Stop laughing!" Chuck said as he did his best to hold in a laugh, but he quickly started to snort, which caused Sarah to shoot a glare towards her teammate, while the rest of troop shook their heads in approval with wide grins as they continued to gaze at Sarah's wrecked car.

"Let's wrap things up here, and then we'll return to the apartments and collect our gear, and then we'll head back to Hereford," Captain Wallace ordered, and Mobility troop all nodded.

Captain Wallace then began to depart away from his troop and towards several British Army officers that were present at the scene, and Red Team waited until their CO was out of earshot before reminding Blue Team about the wager they had made with each other.

"It looks like you fellas owe us some money," Big Dan stated gleefully to a Blue Team member, and he extended out his hand as he awaited the Blue Team member to hand him a well earned twenty-pound note.

"Alright, Joe, mate? Time to pay up what you now owe me, fella!" Jamie Hughes boasted with a wide grin, as he also began to dangle his hand out in front of Joe Lewis, who started to shake his head and he avoided eye contact with the Red Team member as he took out his wallet. He then proceeded to hand Jamie Hughes £20, to Jamie's great satisfaction, because Joe Lewis had been winding up Jamie over something for quite some time now.

It was then Bryce's turn, and he walked up to Staff Sergeant Williams, and with a smug look on his face, he said, "Cheers for this, fellas! It will buy me and the rest of the lads a couple of drinks later tonight!"

Red Team immediately burst into approving laughter, while all of Blue Team began to groan with displeasure, and they shot Bryce a distasteful glare.

"You snidey little rat!" Joe Lewis complained to Bryce, who was now waving the twenty-pound note that Staff Sergeant Williams had handed to him at the members of Blue Team, which only furthered the laughter of Red Team at the actions of their teammate.

Red Team then collected the rest of the money from Blue Team, and the two teams prepared to part ways.

"Watch your back from now on, you prick!" a Blue Team member said to Bryce while pointing at him in contempt.

Bryce continued to look smugly as he rotated his glance between every member of Blue Team.

"They always were sore losers," Staff Sergeant MacDonald declared as he began to laugh, which caused Red Team to share the laughter with him once more, and the whole team began to dangle their earned wagers at Blue Team in a cheerful mood, and the two teams then went about their separate ways to return to their transports.

"That was the easiest money of my life," John Murray boasted, and Red Team shared laughter once more on getting the better of Blue Team in their latest encounter with each other.

"They never learn," Big Dan stated.

"Yeah, and long may it continue!" Chuck added in.

"See you chaps back at the apartments," Cole said, and the team nodded as they split off into groups. Bryce, John, Dan and Chris would be driving back to the staging area in Bryce's car. While Chuck, Sarah, Cole and Jamie would be driving back in Jamie's car.

Chuck, Sarah, Cole and Jamie then began to walk over to Jamie's car. However, Chuck and Sarah quickly came to a halt, and they allowed their teammates to continue on ahead of them because the soldier that they had saved from the Islamist attack began to walk over towards them.

"I owe you both my life, and I'm not sure how to thank you both for that," the soldier said, glancing at the two teammates with a fond look of respect and affinity.

Chuck and Sarah smiled at their brother in arms.

"Don't worry about it, mate. You'd do the same for us," Chuck said, and he offered out his hand.

The soldier nodded, and he proceeded to shake Chuck's hand before the soldier offered out his hand to Sarah.

Sarah smiled at her comrade, and she moved to shake his hand.

"Can I get your names? Because I would like to know who my guardian angels are," the soldier asked.

"Sure, mate. I'm Chuck," Chuck said.

Sarah smiled at the soldier stood in front of her. "I'm Sarah," she said.

The soldier gave them both a warm smile. "I'm Matthew, but my friends call me Matt. What you have both just done for me, I will never forget for the rest of my life. I'm honoured to serve in the same army as both of you," Matt said, his tone filled with gratitude and respect.

Chuck grinned at Matt. "The honour is all ours, mate," he said.

Sarah nodded. "What regiment are you in?" she asked.

"The Mercian Regiment," Matt declared.

Sarah smiled at him, and Chuck nodded.

"May I ask what your parent regiments are?" Matt asked.

Sarah held her smile, and she said, "Sure. Royal Green Jackets."

"Grenadier Guards," Chuck declared.

Matt smiled at the two teammates. "Well, I won't keep you both. I'm sure you're busy. I wish I had the chance off-duty to thank you more than just offering you both my thanks," he said.

Chuck and Sarah shook it off dismissively.

"You really don't need to, mate, honestly. We were just doing our jobs and looking out for our brother in arms," Chuck stated, and Sarah nodded in agreement.

Matt nodded. "Well, it was a job done well, mate. Please look after yourselves and stay safe and vigilant. I'm sure that you're always in the line of fire in your regiment, and I will pray for you both to stay safe and to return from each operation in good health."

"Cheers," Chuck said.

"Thanks," Sarah said.

The three comrades shared a final warm glance before Matt departed to link up with a large gathering of soldiers outside of his barracks, leaving the two teammates alone where they stood.

Glancing at Sarah, Chuck said, "That was a great manoeuvre that you performed once you stopped messing around."

Smiling at her teammate, Sarah said, "Thank you. I just didn't want to mess up my car."

Chuck nodded. "Sarah, I get it. It's your personal property. When we signed up to join the army, we didn't expect that we'd ever have to risk things that have great value to us, but that's just part of our job."

Sarah nodded. "What will happen to my car now, Chuck?" she asked.

Grinning at her, Chuck said, "The mechanics will now come and take it to the scrapyard!"

Sarah shot him another immediate glare, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter at how easy it actually was to wind up his novice teammate.

"You're evil," she declared.

He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't tease you, I just can't help it sometimes."

She gave him a warm smile, and gazing into his eyes, she said, "Yeah, you just can't help yourself, can you?"

He nodded as he began to chuckle, but he quickly abandoned his playful demeanour, and he turned serious. "Sarah, joking aside, I get your concerns. I am very proud of you, and Wallace will have already taken care of your smashed up car. Trust me."

"I do. And thank you. Great job yourself," she said as she held her warm gaze towards her teammate.

He returned her warm gaze, and he said, "Are you ready to head back then?"

She nodded at him, and she smiled at him a final time before they separated as Chuck walked around to the other side of the car, where Cole was already stood waiting for him.

"Great job, mate," Cole said, extending out his arm to offer a handshake to his best friend.

Chuck grinned at his best friend's praise, and he moved to shake his hand.

"How close were they?" Cole asked.

Chuck puffed out an anxious sigh. "Seconds mate, if we hadn't have intercepted, then Matt, the soldier was a goner for sure. One of them was inches away from stabbing me," he declared.

Cole grimaced over his best friend's remarks. "But you're ok?" he asked.

Chuck nodded. "Right as rain, mate," he said.

Cole smiled. "I've spoken to most of the lads, and we all reckon that the pistol that the driver had was in such a bad condition that it probably wouldn't have fired," he stated.

Chuck nodded at the assessment, as he also had paid closer inspection to the pistol that the driver had in his proximity, and it was an ancient pistol. The weapon was undoubtedly in poor condition. "Yeah, but thankfully he didn't get chance to try and use it," he said.

Cole nodded.

"Which ones did you slot?" Cole asked.

"I got the two that left the car. One of them went lunging for Matt, and the other came straight at me," Chuck said.

"How fast was the crash?" Cole asked.

Chuck shrugged. "I wasn't looking, to be honest. Easily sixty miles per hour, though," he declared.

Cole winced briefly before he began to glance at Sarah, who was waiting inside the back of Jamie's car. "How was she?" he asked.

"She was spot on, mate. Her manoeuvre was on point. It was some of the best driving I've seen for sure," he declared.

Cole nodded in approval. "Well, let's not keep them waiting," he said.

Chuck nodded as the best friends moved to enter into Jamie's car.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Jeff and Lester were parked up in Jeff's surveillance van on Williams Street, just outside the Prince of Wales Barracks.

Lester had his camera in his hand that he had used to record the car crash involving Blondie, and the subsequent gunfight that had quickly broke out.

"This footage will get us hired as investigative reporters and give us our jobs again at News Now," Jeff stated.

Lester glanced at his best friend. "Jeffrey, we will be known throughout the world after this!"

Jeff nodded excitedly. "We should send it to Big Mike," he said.

"A wise suggestion, Jeffrey!" Lester said in agreement.

"Why did the soldiers help them though, Lester?" Jeff asked.

Lester took a moment to think. "I think you were right all along, Jeffrey!" Lester started. "I believe we have encountered an alien species. But Jeffrey, they are not looking for humans to abduct for their colony, because this is their colony!"

"So, who are they?" Jeff asked his friend for guidance.

"I think the male that has been with Blondie is their leader. If I had to guess, Jeffrey, then I would say that he is an overseer of the alien race, and when we witnessed him using his scope, he was not looking for people to abduct. Instead, he was observing and making sure that his slaves, and that's us, Jeffrey, were behaving!"

"Is he their executioner?" Jeff asked.

Lester shrieked in fear of Jeff's question. "I think he might be, Jeffrey! We must follow them, but we must be careful, or we might be next on his list!" Lester said with concern.

Jeff nodded, before he proceeded to fire up the engine to his van, and he began to follow the convoy as it departed away from the barracks, while Lester started to send the footage of the action that had taken place outside of the barracks to Big Mike.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Red Team entered into the apartment overlooking the East Road Mosque that they had been using as the staging area for their successful operation. They would now be packing up all of their equipment, before returning to Hereford for a debriefing and hopefully, the weekend off.

"Right then, let's pack up, and head home!" Captain Wallace stated.

Red Team all quickly began to disperse as they started to sweep the entire apartment and to collect all of their gear that they had brought with them. The MI5 surveillance team likewise, began to do the same.

On completion of packing away all of their gear, the soldiers and spooks began to depart the apartment one by one until it was just Chuck and Morgan Grimes, the funny Box 500 employee left.

"I don't know about you, Chuck, but why am I always the last one to pack up my gear?" Morgan complained.

Glancing at Morgan, Chuck laughed. "It's because we're the best, mate. We're methodical, and we're the last ones because we're making sure that everyone has got everything," he stated.

Morgan chuckled. "I don't know about that, Chuck. Maybe for you, sure. But for me, I think it's because I'm the clumsiest," he stated.

"Don't be so harsh on yourself, mate. You did a good job here, and we finished the job for you," Chuck said with a nod of his head.

Morgan smiled at the friendly soldier. "I already knew it, but you guys really are the best, Chuck. Those losers didn't stand a chance with you guys around," Morgan said.

Chuck laughed hard at the funny MI5 employee. "Thanks, mate. But don't speak to the rest of the guys like this though, or they might invite you into their quarters after-hours," Chuck said tongue-in-cheek.

However, it appeared that Morgan didn't detect the humour, and his eyes widened in seriousness.

"Wow, that kind of thing goes on in your Regiment?" Morgan asked wide-eyed.

Catching on that Morgan failed to recognize the joke, Chuck was unable to resist furthering it. "Yeah, mate. It happens all the time. Actually, we have a name for it. It's called: GBB," he said with a straight face.

Morgan took a long moment trying to work out the acronym before he gave up, and he asked, "GBB?"

"Gay before bed," Chuck retorted instantly, once more with a straight face, making sure to show absolutely no humour.

Morgan continued his wide-eyed stare on toward Chuck, and Chuck now had to fight hard to hold in his laughter.

"Wow, Chuck! That is disturbing!" Morgan admitted.

"Yeah. But don't take my word for it, Morgan. Ask any of the lads. Just say Chuck told me to ask you all about GBB, but make sure to state what the acronym is because we use so many acronyms in this outfit. I'm sure you understand?"

Morgan nodded. "Of course, I'm sure you guys use many acronyms!" he declared, and Chuck noticed a sudden change in the body language of Morgan as if he no longer wanted to be in the apartment alone with Chuck anymore, and Chuck couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh, Morgan, a final thing," Chuck started.

"Yeah, Chuck?" Morgan asked while glancing at the door to exit the apartment.

"Just don't ask about it or do it around any of the officers, because they don't know," he stressed.

"Ok, will do, Chuck!" Morgan said, and he quickly departed out of the apartment.

As soon as Morgan had left the apartment, Chuck let out a laugh to himself for a long moment in satisfaction of his winding up of the funny Box 500 employee.

Chuck then picked up his gear, and he quickly departed the apartment complex, unable to stop himself from snorting the entire distance to link up with the rest of his troop…

End of Chapter.

The Gay Before Bed joke was actually on the TV series _Ultimate Force_, and I couldn't resist adding it in here when I saw the perfect opportunity for it.

I know that the teaser is missing from this chapter. But after just six reviews for a 9k chapter last time out, it has made me not want to compose long chapters anymore; hence the cut off here which is about 8,000 words away from the teaser that I showed in the previous chapter.

I would usually now ask for reviews, but it never seems to work. So I guess I will see you all next time out.

Next Chapter: The teaser from the previous chapter, and more Jeffster, who turn up at the pub that Red Team always unwinds at!


	14. Chapter 14

**AN1 **More Who Dares Wins :) Thank you for the reviews.

* * *

**Who Dares Wins**

**Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

**Stirling Lines**

**Hereford**

**United Kingdom **

"You executed a clean and methodical job in Birmingham, ladies and gentlemen," Colonel Wood said to the soldiers of Mobility troop seated inside one of the briefing rooms on their base.

"Thank you, sir," a lot of the soldiers began to mumble.

"If the longstanding traditions of teams wagering against each other is still being continued, then I will also offer my congratulations to Red Team, in finishing the operation a small sum richer," Colonel Wood joked, which earned laughter from most of Red Team, while Blue Team remained mostly silent due to their misfortunes in the wager.

"Wager? What wager?" Big Dan deflected with a straight face while glancing at the Regimental Commanding Officer.

Colonel Wood shook his head. "Who was the bookmaker, out of curiosity?" he asked, glancing around the room to find the culprit.

"Big Dan!" The entire room said in unison as the room quickly filled with laughter.

Big Dan, who was seated in the front row of the briefing room, quickly darted his glance behind himself to glance at his comrades. "You fucking snitches!" he said with a wide grin, and the laughter in the room extended further.

"Is there any chance of us getting some more money out of them, boss? Because they paid us for one jihadist, but we got three of them," Bryce complained, and the entirety of Blue Team all started to glare at Bryce with hostility, which only furthered the laughter of Red Team as half of the team began to bend over in stitches over Bryce's remarks.

Smirking, Colonel Wood asked, "Well, how about it, Neil?" while glancing at Blue Team Leader Staff Sergeant Neil Williams.

"Not a chance in hell, sir! The bet was for _a_ jihadist, not for three of them!" Staff Sergeant Williams complained to the displeasure of Red Team, as they all started to groan at the missed opportunity of accumulating further money from Blue Team's pockets.

Once the laughter in the room had calmed, Colonel Wood continued on, "Well, Mobility troop, I am pleased to declare that you have the next three days off."

The entire debriefing room quickly filled with loud voices of approval over the Colonel's declaration.

"I thought that would make Blue Team happy," Colonel Wood joked, which set laughter off between the whole troop this time.

"That about wraps things up. Box 500, please relay our thanks towards your agency for your help in allowing us to prevent the attack," Colonel Wood said, glancing at Morgan.

Morgan nodded, and he began to smile at the Commanding Officer of 22 SAS.

"That is all, ladies and gentlemen. Dismissed," Colonel Wood finished.

Mobility troop all moved to stand, and the soldiers inside the room quickly split off into subsections as they sought out their friends inside of the room.

Half of Red Team headed in the direction of Bryce, and John Murray and Jamie Hughes moved to put their teammate under their arm.

"Nice try, mate! We can't fault your ingenuity in your attempt at extorting them for more of their money," Jamie Hughes said while glancing with pride at his teammate that was now under his arm.

Bryce nodded as he began to chuckle.

"Yeah, you get brownie points for that, Bryce," Chuck declared.

John Murray nodded.

Chuck, Bryce, Jamie and John were then joined by Joe Lewis and Kyle Rogerson of Blue Team.

Both of the Blue Team members began to shake their heads at Bryce. "We're out for you!" Joe Lewis said to Bryce.

The members of Red Team present in the discussion began to laugh it off.

"Don't be a sore loser, mate. It doesn't suit you. Especially after how you've been behaving with me recently. You lost fair and square, accept it," Jamie Hughes said.

"We can take losing, Jamie. It's just this gobshite poking in the needle at every opportunity he's had since you won that we can't stomach," Kyle complained.

"Like you haven't done that to us before on the rare occasion that you've won a bet, you tossers," John Murray said.

Chuck and Jamie began to nod in agreement.

"I'm just having a laugh, lads. It's all in good spirits," Bryce protested.

"We'll have you lot next time," Joe Lewis stated.

"Not even in your wildest dreams will you ever get the better of us, fella!" Big Dan said as the rest of Red Team joined up with their mates, and the team began to laugh at Big Dan's comment.

Joe Lewis and Kyle Rogerson then departed to link up with their own team, which left Red Team to be alone in their own company.

Glancing at the four members of his team, Chris asked, "What was that all about?"

"It's nothing, Chris. It's just Blue Team kicking up a fuss 'cause they lost the bet," Chuck said.

Bryce, John and Jamie all nodded.

"When have they ever not done that?" Cole asked.

"Never, mate. They're serial fucking complainers," Big Dan said.

The entire team all began to nod.

"So, who's hungry then?" Jamie Hughes asked, changing the topic.

"I could eat a horse," Cole declared.

Red Team began to share laughter over Cole's sudden declaration.

"You greedy bastard," Chris stated endearingly as Red Team began to depart for the canteen in joyful moods as most of the team placed their arms around each other as they strolled towards their destination.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"So what are you all planning to do with your days off then?" Sarah asked, glancing around her team that were now seated together inside the canteen.

"Whatever my missus has me do," Big Dan complained.

Red Team shared laughter together over Dan's remarks.

"Though I'm not sure why I'm laughing, because my marriage is the same. At least Dan's is a happy one," Chris stated.

Sarah smiled in sympathy with her team leader.

"Oh, here he goes. Chris, mate, if you're not happy in the marriage, just leave it for god sake!" Big Dan said.

Most of the team all began to nod.

"I can't. I still love her and the kids. It's her who doesn't love me," Chris declared.

"Chin up, Chris. She still must, or you'd have been kicked out a long time ago mate," Chuck said reassuringly.

The team all began to nod, and Chris conceded to Chuck's point.

"What about the rest of you? Are you doing anything special?" Sarah asked as she glanced around the rest of her team.

"Maybe a drive to Manchester to catch up with some people," Bryce stated.

"That sounds decent actually," Jamie said.

"You could come along if you want to, mate," Bryce suggested.

Bryce and Jamie shared a warm glance with each other as Jamie began to nod. "Sure, why not? I don't exactly have anything else on."

Bryce nodded, and the two teammates continued to share their warm gaze.

"And what about Chuck and yourself, Sarah? I suppose you'll both be hooking up officially now that you're off duty. Though after that extended kissing session you both had in Birmingham, I'm not sure I blame you," Big Dan teased.

Sarah shot Big Dan an immediate glare as most of Red Team burst into laughter over his comment.

"Don't even start any of that, you prick!" Chuck warned as he began to point at Big Dan.

Dan couldn't help but look smugly as he shifted his glance around his team with all of them except for Chuck and Sarah now smirking in approval.

Red Team then began to tuck into the food that they had ordered for a few minutes until Chuck noted as Morgan Grimes entered into the canteen. Chuck paused from eating, and he continued to glance over at Morgan until Morgan met his gaze. With Morgan now looking at Chuck, and with most of Red Team now looking at Chuck to see what their teammate was doing, Chuck proceeded to wink at Morgan. Morgan instantly turned nervous, and he quickly dashed over towards the dinner ladies, and he almost clattered into the back of a soldier that was queuing up to be served in the process of doing so.

Chuck couldn't help but snort with laughter before he broke his gaze onto Morgan, and he turned his attention back towards his team once more.

"What was that all about mate?" Jamie Hughes asked.

Chuck continued to glance around his team, and they had all paused what they were doing, and they were all gazing at him as they waited to find out what the joke was.

Chuckling, he said, "I told him all about GBB."

Every single one of his teammates filled up with puzzlement and confusion as they began to ask themselves what the acronym stood for, which only furthered Chuck's laughter on seeing the puzzled states that his teammates were now in.

"GBB?" Cole asked eventually as he gave up trying to work out what it stood for, and the rest of Red Team all stopped attempting to work out the acronym themselves, and they all began to gaze at Chuck once more as they waited to learn the meaning of the mystery acronym.

"Gay before bed," Chuck admitted, and he couldn't hold in his laughter once more on watching as all seven of his teammates began to shake their heads in disgust at him.

"You're sick!" Chris declared as Chuck continued to laugh strongly in satisfaction.

"_A_ fucking _men_!" Big Dan said in complete agreement with his team leader, and the rest of Chuck's teammates promptly began to nod in agreement as they continued to shake their heads at Chuck while he continued to laugh at his joke and his winding up of Morgan while they were in Birmingham.

"He really believes that?" Sarah asked as she rotated her gaze between Chuck and Morgan in bewilderment.

Chuck nodded. "Yeah. It was too easy. And make sure you continue the joke!" he said as he glanced around his team once more, while occasionally continuing to laugh.

"We'll have to, mate," John Murray said, grinning.

Chuck nodded as he began to laugh once more.

Red Team then began to observe Morgan as he collected his food. He then began to make his way towards one of the benches, but he paused what he was doing because Jamie Hughes shouted, "Morgan, come and join us mate! We've saved you a seat!"

Red Team watched on as Morgan began to gaze at the team wide-eyed before he quickly abandoned walking towards the bench. Instead, he rushed off to another room and out of sight of the team, and as he did so, Red Team quickly burst into roaring laughter, and the whole team began to shake their heads in a humorous way.

Once the laughter had died down a short while later, Bryce asked, "Anyone for a game of pool?"

Jamie, John and Chris all began to nod, and they stood up, and they collected their plates before they departed away to head to the R&R section of the canteen. While Chuck, Sarah, Dan and Cole remained behind.

Dan and Cole then began to engage in a conversation amongst themselves, and Chuck turned his attention towards Sarah. Glancing at his teammate, he noted that she didn't appear to have much appetite, and she was only picking away at her food.

Smiling as he continued to gaze at her, he said, "Not hungry?"

Sarah broke from looking down at her food as she glanced up, and she met his gaze. She quickly returned his smile, and she shook her head.

Holding his smile, he said, "It's normal. Over time, it will become easier, and you will be able to eat more."

Sarah nodded as the teammates held their glance.

"Look at me, I'm still not eating my normal load either," he stated, glancing down at his plate.

Sarah broke from looking at Chuck, and she glanced at his plate before returning her gaze to her teammate once more. "Yeah," she said.

Still holding his smile towards her, he said, "You're not upset about it, are you?"

She shook her head. "No. He was a jihadist. It's totally different from what happened in London."

He nodded, but he said nothing, and he waited for her to continue.

"On our first operation together, I felt how I did at the time because it was exactly as you said to me. It was most of the bodies that I saw laid out all over the ground that had me feeling the way I did," she said.

Chuck nodded again. "Yeah, it was a horrible experience. It will take everybody that was involved in that operation a long time to cancel out what we saw," he stated.

She nodded. "Exactly. But our operation in Birmingham is totally different. No innocents were hurt, and the person I killed was a jihadist that came seconds away from killing a comrade of ours. I'm glad I neutralized him," she said.

Chuck continued his warm smile toward his teammate, and as they continued to gaze into each other's eyes, he said, "Sarah, it's not easy… But someone has to do the job. You're good at it, and if you need to talk about it, then you know where I am."

Not breaking the eye contact with him, she smiled affectionately at him, and she said, "Thank you. And you know where I am too. Anytime you need to talk to me, Chuck, then call me. I really mean that."

Chuck nodded as the teammates and friends held their unyielding warm gaze towards each other for a prolonged period...

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

Red Team entered into the barracks housing their on-base accommodations, and they were preparing to change into fresh clothing before retiring to the civilian world for the next three days.

"Does anyone have a thirst then?" Chris asked, glancing around his team.

All of Red Team suddenly erupted with smiles and all seven members began to nod.

"Did you even need to ask that, Chris?" Big Dan said.

"No, but it's the polite thing to do rather than to force it upon you all," Chris declared.

Big Dan nodded. "Fair enough."

"Besides, we need to spend Blue Team's money anyway," Bryce stated.

Red Team suddenly erupted with laughter, and the team moved to pat Bryce, approvingly.

"In that case, I'll see all of you chaps, and Sarah, soon," Cole declared.

The team all began to nod.

"I'm looking forward to it," Jamie said.

Chuck suppressed a laugh at Jamie's comment. "I bet you are, mate," he said.

"What did Joe even do to you, by the way, mate?" Bryce asked.

Jamie shook his head in frustration. "He set me up with his ex-girlfriend, who turned out to be just a regimental groupie. Blue Team have been on my back, and they've been pissing me off about it for a while now," Jamie declared.

Sarah and Bryce, as the newest members to Red Team both began to wince.

"Ouch," Bryce said in sympathy.

"Yeah, it's a sore topic for him!" Chuck declared as the team shared laughter.

"Now I'm super glad I took their money. They deserved it," Sarah declared as she began to feel bad for her teammate.

Chuck started to scoff. "Pfft, you didn't even want the wager! You're barred from boasting about Blue Team's misfortunes," he said, grinning at her.

"Make me," Sarah said in defiance as she stared into his eyes.

"Ooh!" Big Dan said in excitement.

"The girl's got attitude," John Murray said in approval.

"Style I call it," Cole declared.

"That's why she's in Red Team!" Chuck declared as the team shared strong laughter once more.

The team then began to disappear into their respective quarters, with most of the team proceeding to shower before they began to change into a fresh set of civilian clothes. On departing the showering area of the barracks, Chuck bumped into his best friend, Cole Barker.

Smiling at his best friend, Cole said, "Hi, Chuck."

Chuck returned the warm glance as he began to grin at his best friend. "Hey, mate."

"Do you fancy doing anything this weekend, Chuck? Maybe the usual?" Cole suggested as the best friends continued to gaze at each other from where they stood idle.

"What, head to the gym together then head out to the pub for a few before finishing at a steakhouse?" Chuck asked grinning.

Cole nodded as he held his warm glance on toward his best friend.

"Then it sounds like a perfect day to me, mate. I think there's even rugby match on. We can watch it at the usual place we go to," Chuck suggested.

"I'm already looking forward to that, Chuck," Cole said.

"Cole, I always look forward to spending time with you whenever it's available to us, mate," Chuck declared warmly.

The best friends shared another warm glance.

"Are you sure Sophie won't mind, though?" Chuck asked.

Cole scoffed as he shook his head in disapproval of his best friend's question. "Chuck, you always ask me that every time we plan something. You know Sophie almost as well as me. You were with me the night I met her, and you've been in her company many, many times since. You're going to be my best man for god sake," he complained as he began to laugh while he continued to shake his head.

Chuck shared the laughter with him. "I know, Cole. I just don't ever want her to think that I'm coming between you both as the third wheel, 'cause I'd never want that," he stated sincerely.

Cole patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Chuck, if she heard you say that, then she'd give you a right good telling off. She loves you as a little brother, and she does not resent or mind how much time we spend together. You're my best friend, and she would never even dream of taking that away from you. You know that."

Chuck nodded in concession. "You're right, mate. So, Sunday then?" he asked.

"Sunday," Cole agreed as he began to nod, and the best friends shared an affectionate smile.

"I look forward to it," Chuck declared.

"Me too," Cole declared as they affectionately shook hands, before they returned into their respective quarters and they also began to change into a fresh set of civilian clothes as they prepared to depart for the pub together with the rest of the team to unwind in each others company.

Chuck changed himself into a navy blue tailored shirt and jeans. He then spent a moment fixing his hair before he gathered his things, and he promptly left his room as he wanted to catch Sarah alone before they departed for the pub with their team.

Arriving outside her door, Chuck proceeded to knock. He then waited in pause for a short moment until Sarah said, "Come in."

Chuck breathed out a short sigh before he took hold of the door handle, and he proceeded to enter into Sarah's quarters.

Arriving inside, he glanced over at Sarah, who was sitting on the bed. She was wearing a white tank top with a grey cardigan and blue jeans with heels, and she looked simple, but yet _oh_ so gorgeous.

"Hi," he said, holding his gaze towards her.

"Hey," she replied, meeting his gaze, and she smiled at him.

Chuck then began to do something bold, which shocked both himself, but also Sarah, as he moved to close Sarah's door, and he proceeded to lock the door.

"Chuck?" she inquired in a startled tone.

Chuck turned to face her once more, and smiling, he said, "Sorry, that surprised even myself a little bit. I just wanted to talk in private, without people eavesdropping on us if that's ok?"

Sarah took a moment in contemplation before she began to nod, and he held his grin towards her, and he moved to sit on the bed a short distance away from her.

The two teammates then paused in an awkward silence, until they both went to speak at the same time as they said, "So…"

"You go first," Sarah quickly interjected.

Chuck nodded, and he grinned at her once more. "Sarah, we agreed to put aside what happened between us until we got back and well, here we are..."

"Yeah, here we are," Sarah said as she then broke her gaze away from Chuck for a brief moment before she returned it back in place, and the two teammates continued to gaze into each other's eyes from where they sat a short distance apart.

"Look, Sarah," he started. "I'm going to be honest and blunt with you now because I think it's the only way we can clear any awkwardness between us after the kiss. At this point, I can say with total certainty that I am highly attracted to you. You are breathtakingly gorgeous, even in what you're wearing now."

Sarah broke her gaze from Chuck, and she looked down at the floor briefly as she began to feel her cheeks burn, and she started to blush in shyness from his blunt but welcome complimenting of her.

He continued on again, and she looked up to gaze into his eyes as he talked to her, "And I know you are attracted to me too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have invited me to come inside the other day."

Sarah gulped a nervous breath of air, and she broke her gaze briefly. "Chuck, I am, but..."

He quickly interjected, "Sarah, totally, I get it. We were on active duty, on a serious and dangerous operation, and it wasn't the ideal time for us to be kissing."

Continuing to gaze into his eyes, she smiled, and she said, "God, it was so awkward," as she began to laugh.

He nodded as he also began to chuckle. "Agreed."

"It was probably the longest kiss I've ever had also," she stated as she held her affectionate smile.

He continued to chuckle. "Me too. But Sarah, it could have been worse, trust me."

Sarah scoffed. "Chuck, how could it have been worse?" she asked as she continued to gaze at him with a bright smile.

He suppressed a brief laugh. "Well, Sarah, instead of Jamie and Dan watching us, I want you to imagine what it would have been like if it were Blue Team, or hell the entire troop with eyes on us at that exact moment," he stated.

Sarah suddenly gulped with dread, and her smile ceased. "You're right, it could have been worse!" she quickly agreed.

He vigorously began to nod his head, and they shared a laugh with each other.

"Sarah, there's always a positive to everything in life, you just have to find it," he declared with a loving grin.

She returned his warm gaze. "Well, aren't you the philosopher?" she teased.

He winked at her, and she suppressed a laugh as she moved to gently swat his arm.

"God, Chuck, I wouldn't have been able to look at anybody again if Blue Team had watched us kissing, and especially how we did, and for how long we did it. That is actually a sobering thought," she declared.

"Yeah," he agreed.

The two teammates continued to share an affectionate gaze towards each other.

"Plus, I mean, if I had to be forced into kissing anybody on the team, at least it was you," he joked.

Sarah shook her head as a wide grin formed, and she suppressed a laugh as she continued to gaze into his eyes. "That's so not fair. You're only saying that because I'm the only girl," she teased.

He nodded, and with a wide grin, he said, "Exactly!"

She shook her head once more, and she held her affectionate smile. "I hate being the odd one out," she declared.

"I'm sorry," he said.

They shared another warm glance, and Sarah moved to touch his arm affectionately.

"Are you ready to head out and have a good time then?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

He gave her the biggest grin yet as the teammates moved to stand, and Chuck followed on behind Sarah as they moved to the door of her quarters. Sarah proceeded to unlock the door, and they departed from Sarah's quarters, and they entered into the hallway of the barracks where they immediately encountered Big Dan who was stood idle out in the hallway.

"Oy, oy! I take it you've both already progressed to kissing each other in private now then, ey?" he teased.

"Piss off, Dan!" Sarah shouted with distaste, glaring at her teammate.

"Yeah, piss off, Dan!" Chuck said as he did the same.

Big Dan began to laugh. "You're even talking in the same language now. Sharing a bed together will soon follow," he said as he continued to torment his two teammates, and his attempts succeeded as Chuck and Sarah began to get more visibly wound up in the form of biting their lips.

Luckily for Chuck and Sarah, the rest of the team promptly arrived out in the hallway, and Red Team prepared to depart the barracks together.

"So, who's driving tonight then?" Jamie Hughes asked.

The team paused in contemplation for a brief moment before Cole began to speak.

"I'll do it. I'm heading out with Chuck on Sunday, so I'll save my drinking for then. Sophie wouldn't approve if I got slaughtered two nights in just a few days, so I'll save the heavy stuff for Sunday," he declared.

Red Team all began to nod in acceptance.

"I can probably drive as well. I guess I can save the heavy stuff for Sunday as well," Chuck offered.

"Nah, you're alright, mate. I'll be driver number two. You won us the wager along with Sarah, so it's only fair that you end the night rotten. Most of our rounds will come from Blue Team's money, after all," Jamie said.

"He's right," Big Dan said.

"Of course he is," Chris said in agreement.

"Fellas, it's fine, seriously, I don't mind," Chuck protested.

"Chuck, it's already settled, mate. I'm doing the driving, and you're doing the drinking, and I won't hear no more about it," Jamie Hughes said, and Red Team sharply began to voice their agreement with Jamie's argument.

"Fair enough," Chuck conceded with a grin, which turned Red Team joyful, and they began to depart the barracks together in fantastic moods.

"I wish we would have upped the wager," Bryce complained at the missed opportunity of taking more money from Blue Team.

"You and me both, mate!" John Murray said in agreement.

"There's always the next time," Cole said.

"Hopefully, Sarah will be more willing next time," Chuck teased.

"After how easy that was, I will be totally willing," Sarah joked as Red Team burst into laughter.

"That's what we like to hear," Big Dan said.

"She's becoming one of the lads," John Murray joked.

"Becoming? She already is one," Jamie Hughes argued.

The team all nodded. "Fair point," Chris said.

Red Team had now arrived outside their barracks when they encountered Morgan Grimes walking over to his car a short distance away.

The team all began to glance at each other, and they quickly began to get excited at the prospect of continuing Chuck's joke.

"Alright, Morgan! We're heading out to the pub! You're welcome to join us, mate!" Bryce shouted over at Morgan, who quickly began to shake his head sharply, and he waved his arms in an attempt to refuse the invitation.

Red Team began to shout further words of encouragement at Morgan, who continued to protest.

"Come on, fella!" John Murray encouraged.

"Come and get to know us, mate! We don't bite!" Jamie Hughes shouted, and Red Team had to fight off the urge to laugh after that particular comment from their mate.

"We've been teaching Bryce gay before bed lately! You'd be welcome to come and learn the ropes!" Big Dan shouted, which caused Red Team to be unable to fight off the laughter, and Morgan to increase his attempts to refuse the invitation.

"Fuck off!" Bryce complained as he began to laugh, which only furthered Red Team's laughter.

"Cole has even brought the vaseline!" Chuck shouted as Red Team continued to laugh.

"Yeah, I've got tubs of the stuff in the boot of the Merc!" Cole shouted as he nodded over at the Mercedes.

"Thanks for the offer, guys, but I can't, seriously! I have to get home!" Morgan shouted in a panicked state before he quickly entered into his car, and Red Team observed as Morgan quickly sped off out of the base at record speed.

It took Red Team a long moment to be able to bring under control their laughter, and many members of the team now had stomach cramps from how much they had been laughing at the expense of the Box 500 employee.

"To the usual place then?" Cole asked his teammates.

The team all began to nod, and they quickly entered into Cole and Jamie's cars, and they departed to begin their long night together…

**End of Chapter**

I know, I know! Another chapter without the teaser. But this is actually a long chapter! It's 5,000 words, and the night isn't even CLOSE to being done. In fact, it hasn't even begun yet!

The next chapter will be at least another 8,000 words, and if they were both in the same chapter, then you would be looking at a 14-16k worded chapter. That's TOO MUCH! Plus, the next chapter will VERY likely be the first M rated Who Dares Wins chapter. So if you don't know how to find M rated stories on this website, then I would advise adding this story onto your follow or favourites list, so that you can get an email update once the chapter has been updated.

I PROMISE, and pinky-swear that the next chapter WILL contain the teaser, and it will also include Jeffster arriving at the pub.

Until next time, and if you decide to leave a review, then you will have my continued thanks :)


	15. Chapter 15

**AN1** Hi :) I have had to split the chapter into at least two parts. The first part of Red Team's night is a massive 12,000 words, and I have further scenes that are _at least_ another 12,000 words. I do NOT feel like publishing and proofreading through a mammoth 24,000 worded chapter all in one go, and I'm sure 99% of readers wouldn't have the time to read it anyway, so I have had to split it LOL! Consequently, I'll try my very best to avoid posting teasers moving forward. Because as fun as they are to tease, it puts pressure on me to deliver the content in the very next chapter that it was originally promised in. I have actually stated this before, in this very same story! But once more I have fallen into the teaser trap. *That's another fine mess you've got me into!*

* * *

**Who Dares Wins **

**Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

"I hope you all clocked that black van that was parked outside the base?" Cole asked, glancing around his teammates as Red Team entered inside their usual pub ran by Jim, the friendly landlord.

The entire team began to nod as they made their way towards the bar.

"Yeah, mate. Chris phoned it in on the way here," John Murray declared.

"Yeah, I did as well," Chuck stated.

"I wonder what the fuck that was all about?" Big Dan asked.

"I have no idea, mate, but you can bet your life that half of the regiment has already phoned it in for sure," Jamie Hughes said.

"Yeah, they're probably flooded with calls. It's probably being dealt with as we speak," Chris said.

The team nodded in agreement once more.

"Right, so who's buying the first round then?" Cole asked as he closed off shoptalk, and he changed the topic as he began to glance around each teammate to find the answer to his question.

"Blue Team are mate! Until we've each used up our twenties!" Bryce reminded his teammate boastfully as he began to laugh while he glanced around his teammates and he awaited their approval of his comment.

Red Team quickly shared the laughter with him, which caused the area that they were presently stood in to suddenly turn very loud, and numerous customers paused their activities to query the sudden loud outburst from the newly arrived team.

The eight teammates then moved to stand at the front of the bar together, where Jim was positioned behind the bar waiting for them.

"You fellas sure are cheerful tonight," Jim declared, glancing around Red Team.

"It's because we won a wager, mate," John Murray said.

"And you're here to spend it all with me?" Jim asked as a smirk crept through his lips.

"You know us too well, mate," Jamie Hughes said.

Jim nodded. "So, what will it be then?"

Red Team began to glance around at each other, as they still hadn't decided who would be buying the first round.

"I'll get the first?" Big Dan offered.

Red Team all began to nod.

"The usual then?" Big Dan asked, looking to the left and right of him at his teammates.

"Yeah, fella," John Murray said, and the rest of the team began to nod.

Jim nodded as he started to prepare the usual order for Red Team.

"Maybe we should order something special for our two lovebirds, though? Seeing as it's their first night together. We may as well celebrate it in style," Big Dan teased as he glanced at Chuck and Sarah, and Chris, Cole, John, Jamie and Bryce burst into laughter.

Chuck and Sarah began to shake their heads, and in unison, they said, "Piss off, Dan!"

Big Dan laughed. "Look, they're at it again! They're speaking the same language again, and now they're even speaking in unison! I'm telling you all, by the end of tonight, these two will be sharing a bed!" Big Dan said as he continued to torment his two teammates.

"Aww, leave them alone, Dan, they're in love," John Murray declared as he got in on the ribbing, which only furthered the laughter of all of the team except for Chuck and Sarah, who now began to glare at John Murray instead.

"And don't you fucking start!" Chuck said in frustration as he continued his glare towards the Scot.

"I tell you what, maybe we should all just order them one drink, and they can both share it, seeing as they'll be sharing a lot of things moving forward. It will save us some money," Big Dan said as he continued his ribbing, and Chuck and Sarah both became embarrassed, and frustration continued to build for the pair over their team's ribbing of the kiss they had shared, which they now began to deeply regret.

"We'll get you back for this, you know?" Sarah said, glancing around all of her team, and Chuck began to nod in strong agreement of her words.

"I don't doubt it. But for now, let's continue to celebrate your first night together," Big Dan stated before he began to make smooching noises, and he started to move in towards Chuck and Sarah in an attempt to kiss them both. He was quickly joined by the rest of Red Team attempting to do the same, which led to Chuck and Sarah to begin slapping away the offenders until they finally ceased their actions. The six teammates then burst into laughter, while Chuck and Sarah remained unamused, and the team moved to sit on the bar stools together, where they were promptly served their drinks from the friendly landlord.

John Murray then began to speak. "I would just like to propose a toast," he paused as he raised his pint of beer into the air. "To Chuck and Sarah."

The six members of Red Team minus Chuck and Sarah all burst into laughter, while Chuck and Sarah began to shake their heads once more.

"May they live long and happy together," Cole said, and Chuck shot his best friend an immediate glare, closely followed by Sarah doing the same.

"So, when's the marriage?" Big Dan asked as Red Team continued to tease and torment their two friends.

"With Sarah being one of the lads, they'll need two best men," Jamie Hughes joked which furthered the laughter of three-quarters of Red Team, while Chuck and Sarah continued to shake their heads in embarrassment and in disgust at their teammates but right now, they felt like enemies instead.

"For god sake, we did what we did to save the mission! And I'm sorry we did it now!" Sarah complained as she had now had enough of the teasing.

"Yeah, me too," Chuck agreed.

"Based on how you were kissing each other, and for how long it lasted, you didn't appear to regret it or be sorry it happened at the time," Jamie said.

"Speaking of which. We need more information. Were tongues involved in this kiss?" Big Dan asked.

"That's an excellent question, fella. So, do either of you two have an answer to Big Dan's question?" John Murray asked.

"Mind your own business!" Chuck and Sarah said in unison.

"Here they go again," Big Dan teased as Red Team continued to chuckle at the misfortunes of Chuck and Sarah.

"I want to die!" Sarah declared as she hung her head into her hands in extreme embarrassment over being tormented endlessly.

"So do I! I'll join you!" Chuck said in agreement.

"Yeah, we thought you would, mate," John Murray continued the tormenting.

"Aww, leave the happy couple alone," Jim said as he got in on the joke.

Three-quarters of Red Team burst into approving laughter once more. While Sarah raised her head up out of her hands, and she shot Jim a deadly looking glare.

"Don't start, Jim!" Chuck warned as he began to point at him.

"Nice one, Jimbo!" Big Dan said in approval, and Jim smirked satisfactorily.

"Will you all please stop?" Sarah begged, glancing around her team before her gaze lowered down at the counter of the bar in depression and sadness from being teased endlessly by her own teammates.

"If you give us a repeat performance of Birmingham for the ones that didn't catch it, yeah," John Murray said.

Sarah raised her glance, and she began to look at Chuck, who was gazing back at her and they shared the glance for an extended moment in contemplation, which was a bad idea because the rest of their team quickly caught on.

"Look at them! They're even contemplating it!" Big Dan said.

Sarah nodded. "If it gets you all to shut up, then yeah!" she complained as she puffed out a huge sigh stemmed from the extensive ribbing she had taken since she arrived at the pub.

Chuck nodded in agreement, while three-quarters of Red Team started to laugh once more.

Sensing the frustration quickly building for Chuck, Bryce said, "Maybe we should stop. Before Chuck decks the lot of us."

Chuck strongly began to nod his head in agreement. "I'm glad someone has their senses about them tonight!" he said in an unamused tone.

The teasing of Chuck and Sarah finally stopped, and Red Team began to consume their first round of drinks.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

All eight members of Red Team were still seated at the bar, and they had just received their second round of drinks.

"Cheers," Cole said.

"Up your ass," Big Dan replied, which caused laughter amongst Red Team as the team of eight took a sip of their second drinks.

There was a short silence between the comrades and friends until John Murray broke the silence, and he declared, "Crap, we forgot to order just the one drink for the happy couple."

His comment earnt him laughter from three-quarters of Red Team, while Chuck and Sarah began to shake their heads in frustration once more.

"Oh, here we go again!" Sarah complained as she continued to shake her head.

"You know what, Sarah? Seeing as they're already coming to a thousand conclusions over what happened, we may as well sit together on our own and get some peace," Chuck suggested in a serious tone.

"Be our guest, fella! Because we look out for our mates. There's nothing wrong with having a good time off-duty. So go and enjoy yourselves. For all I give a fuck, you can even both kiss each other again if that's what you want," Big Dan said as Chuck and Sarah's six teammates all started their kissing noises once more for a short while until the teasing stopped again, and the team began to consume their second round of drinks.

**A short while later**

Red Team were halfway through their second round of drinks when they began to pay attention to one of the television screens present inside of the pub. A news anchor was standing outside of a barracks that looked all too familiar for Red Team because it was the very same one that the team was stood outside of themselves less than twelve hours ago.

"This is BBC News at seven o'clock. We are live with you on Williams Street, just outside the Prince of Wales Barracks in Birmingham. Where just before ten o'clock this morning, an Islamist plot to kill a British soldier was foiled with just seconds to spare before reaching its conclusion just yards away from where we are standing. And in the last few moments, we have obtained video footage from News Now Media Corporation, which appears to show the incident unfolding before our own eyes."

Red Team were now glued to the TV screen, and every member of the team was drowning out the noise of the busy pub as the team concentrated on watching the leaked footage of their operation playing out on the television screen.

"Take note of the white Vauxhall Corsa D as it begins to increase its speed at a rapid pace before it crashes into the car in front of it and it performs a ramming manoeuvre to bring the terrorists' vehicle to a stop. We can now see as two individuals whose faces have been blurred for their own protection begin to exit the Vauxhall with weapons drawn, and what proceeds to happen is an armed takedown of three Islamists. Because of its graphic content, the footage has been blurred, but having watched the video off-camera, BBC News can report that the first soldier shoots the two men that had departed from the vehicle. While the second soldier begins to fire upon the driver that had remained inside the vehicle. We will have much more on this failed attack throughout the evening."

Red Team began to shake their heads in frustration over their operation being leaked and ending up all over the seven o'clock news.

"What the fuck!?" Cole asked in shock.

"How the fuck did that get out?!" Chris asked in anger.

"I'm not sure, mate. But heads are going to roll!" Jamie Hughes declared.

"Fucking hell!" Big Dan complained as Red Team continued to shake their heads over their classified operation now becoming household news.

"If this footage wasn't blurred, then Chuck and Sarah would both be saying goodbye to their careers right now," Cole declared.

Red Team all began to nod.

"Fucking dickheads, man! The job is hard enough as it is and we sweat our asses off in the most demanding training possible just to get here and pricks like this come along and pull shit like this. I hate journalist pricks," Bryce said in frustration.

"You and me both, mate!" Big Dan said in complete agreement, and all of Red Team began to nod in agreement with Bryce's rant, as they all felt the exact same as their teammate.

"Command is going to be pissed right now," Chuck stated.

"Yeah, I'd be surprised if our pagers didn't go off so that they can demand some immediate answers. You can bet that they'll be banging the OPSEC (operational security) drums right about now," John Murray said.

"We're out of the country!" Chris suddenly declared as he took a gulp of his pint of Guinness. He was very much looking forward to the next three days off work, all of the team were actually, and if Red Team were called back into work over this, then you could bet your life that it would cause each member of Red Team to enter into a pissed off state of mind. They had worked hard against the clock for several days, and they had earnt this R&R that they had been given from the CO of 22 SAS.

"Don't jinx it, John, you pillock!" Big Dan complained while shaking his head at his teammate, and the rest of Red Team began to voice their agreement of Big Dan's complaint.

"Jim!" Jamie Hughes called out, and he waited until the landlord turned to look at him. "If anyone asks, we're not here!"

Jim nodded while Red Team burst into approving laughter at their comrade's remarks, and they shared the merriment for a long moment as they moved to pick up their glasses, and the team took another mouthful of their alcoholic beverages.

It then took Red Team a short while of head-shaking over their operation leaking to the mainstream media before they could move on from it, and they finally began their night of relaxing in each others company.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

"Hey, Dan, give Chuck and Sarah a break now, yeah?" Cole said while he was stood next to Dan at the pool table inside the pub. Red Team had now split from being in the same location. Cole and Dan were playing pool together. Bryce and Jamie Hughes were talking to some of the single women inside the pub. Chris and John Murray were stood at the bar together. And Chuck and Sarah were seated at a large table that Red Team had moved to just a short while ago.

Big Dan paused from preparing his shot to glance at Cole instead. "Come on, mate, I'm not an idiot, nor am I a sadist. I can tell she's _extremely_ unsettled by it. I was just joking in good spirits, but I know when to stop," he complained.

Cole nodded. "I know, Dan. I'm just looking out for a friend," he said.

Big Dan nodded. "And I can respect that, Cole. I know he's your best mate and you'd run through hell for him if he was ever in trouble. It's all in good spirits, fella. I seriously wouldn't give a fuck if they both got off together right now to go back to whoever's to start shagging each other silly for the entire weekend. You know me, and you know that I'm too easy-going to dictate what my mates can and can't do off-duty in their own time," he said.

Cole nodded and extending out his hand towards Big Dan, which Big Dan accepted, Cole said, "And that's what I like most about you, Dan. Everyone knows where they stand around you. You don't hold anything back, and you say what you have to say, and I appreciate that."

Big Dan nodded before he proceeded to take his shot.

Meanwhile, at the table allocated to Red Team, Chuck and Sarah were engaged in a conversation of their own.

"God, I thought they would never stop," Sarah said as she began to gaze at Chuck in embarrassment.

Chuck smiled at her. "I know. They're proper bastards when they get going," he said.

Sarah nodded. "That's putting it kindly, Chuck! I wanted to strangle them! I probably still do," she said as she began to laugh.

Chuck emitted a lighthearted chuckle. "Me too," he agreed.

Smirking, she said, "Maybe we can poison them in their sleep?"

"That's actually an excellent idea," Chuck said as he began to grin.

Sarah suppressed a laugh.

"After that monster ribbing we just took though, Sarah, I definitely regret that kiss now," Chuck admitted.

Sarah began to suppress another laugh, and gazing into his eyes, she smiled as she said, "Me too."

"Though at least we did learn one thing from it," Chuck added in.

"What's that?" Sarah asked as she held her gaze.

Grinning at her, he said, "That you're a good kisser."

A full, affectionate smile now took shape on Sarah's face. "So are you," she declared.

He held his grin towards her, and she held her smile towards him for a long moment before they took a mouthful of their third round of drinks.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck, Dan and Chris were now playing darts with each other. While Bryce and John were engaged in conversation with three single women inside the pub, and Sarah, Cole and Jamie were stood together at the bar.

Since Sarah had arrived at the bar section of the pub with her two teammates just a few minutes ago, she had mostly been quiet. Because the truth was that she had been somewhat distracted, as her gaze mainly had been fixated over towards Chuck, who would return her glance occasionally.

Sarah, Cole and Jamie had just ordered the fourth round of drinks for Red Team, and Sarah was still gazing over towards Chuck when Jamie Hughes began speaking to her, and she broke her gaze from Chuck, and she began to look at Jamie instead.

"It's ok to like him, you know?" Jamie said.

Sarah broke her gaze from Jamie briefly, and she began to look down at the floor in embarrassment from being caught staring at Chuck.

"He's an attractive and friendly guy. You're an attractive and friendly girl. I don't see what the problem is?" Jamie continued, and Sarah raised her gaze to look at her teammate once more, and as she did so, she caught Cole Barker nodding in agreement.

"After the onslaught you all gave us both just earlier?" Sarah said as she scoffed briefly, and she began to rotate her gaze between the two teammates in her immediate proximity.

"Sarah, it was all in good spirits, mate. There's only one member on this team who would care if you both hooked up with each other tonight, and that's Bryce. And we all know why that is," Jamie said.

Sarah took in and she registered Jamie's words, but she didn't respond with a comment. Instead, she puffed out a sigh, and she raised a hand to rest on her chin.

Unwilling to let the conversation drop, Jamie continued on, "It happens all the time in the regular army. Being attracted to your teammate isn't a crime. Life in the army is no different to civilian life. If you're attracted to your coworker, then you're attracted to them, it's as simple as that."

"But this isn't the regular army, nor the civilian world," she said.

Jamie nodded. "Granted. But what's your point exactly?"

Sarah puffed out another brief anxious sigh, and she broke her gaze from Jamie briefly, before returning it back in place. "My point, Jamie, is that I am the first female in the SAS. I'm expected to carry that mantle, and to represent it well," she declared.

Jamie and Cole both began to shake their heads in frustration because they strongly disagreed with her point, and Cole quickly entered himself into the discussion, "That's bollocks! You can live whatever life you want to off-duty. You could date a pornstar, a painter, a builder, or an SAS soldier and it would be your business and nobody else's. It only gets sticky if you bring it to work, lass."

Sarah nodded. "But that's my point, Cole. What if it did end up being brought into work?" she asked as the three teammates continued to engage in their lively and heated discussion.

"You both have your heads screwed on. I'm sure you're both mature enough to not allow it to compromise or to impair your professional judgment with each other. And provided you both do that, then at least five of your teammates will root for you both because I do agree that Bryce wouldn't take it too well," Cole said.

Sarah once more remained quiet, because she didn't find verbally communicating her feelings to be an easy accomplishment, especially if it concerned her own love life, but she processed Cole's argument, and she continued to gaze at him.

"Sarah, look at Bryce and John over there," Jamie said as he paused and he nodded over to where the two teammates were stood, and they appeared to be having a great time as they were laughing and flirting away with members of the opposite sex. "They're off-duty just like you, and they're having a great time. While you're stood here, placing barriers that don't need to be placed between yourself and Chuck. If it's what you both want, then I say go for it, mate."

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck was stood alone at a jukebox inside the pub. Abandoning her position at the bar, where Sarah had been seated alone for a short while, she began to walk towards her teammate with two drinks, one for herself, and one for Chuck. He quickly became alert to her arrival, and he abandoned his activity on the jukebox, and he turned his attention towards Sarah.

"Hi," she said as she came to a stop in his vicinity, and she began to gaze at him.

"Hiya," he replied as a loving grin directed towards her formed.

She returned his warm glance with a smile of her own, and she declared," I brought you something you might like," as she handed him his next drink.

Grinning, he moved to take the beer glass from her, and gazing into her eyes, he said, "Thanks, gorgeous."

Sarah broke eye contact with him for the briefest of moments as her mind began to register what she thought of his comment he had just made towards her.

And having successfully analyzed how she felt about his compliment, she returned her gaze to make eye contact with him once more, and she smiled at him.

They then began to take a sip from their drinks, and turning her attention towards the jukebox briefly, she nodded at it, before gazing right back at him, and she asked, "Whatcha doin'?"

He held his grin that had been present since she arrived in his company, and he declared, "I'm just picking some good old fashioned music to jam to."

She suppressed a laugh while holding her affectionate smile towards him.

"Care to help me pick?" he asked.

Sarah turned a bit fidgety, and she broke her gaze briefly. "I'm not really into music," she admitted.

Continuing his gaze, he laughed as he said, "Nonsense, Sarah, what's your favourite band?"

Sarah remained in pause for an extended moment as she sought out an answer to his question, but nothing came to mind.

"Oh my gosh!" he said with a loving grin as he began to shake his head.

"I'm not into music, I don't like to speak about myself, and I'm not very funny. I must be lousy company for you," Sarah said as began to laugh in shame, now feeling like she had done something very wrong.

"Yeah, you are!" he said with a wide grin.

Sarah shook her head. "Thanks for that!" she said as she moved to swat his arm.

He began to laugh.

"Shut up," she said affectionately, and she began to laugh cutely.

His playful persona quickly ceased, and he turned serious. "Sarah, in all seriousness, without any of the joking or the teasing, I can be myself around you. You're a down to earth girl, and I have never not enjoyed your company since the first day I met you," he admitted.

Sarah began to scoff as she held her warm glance towards him. Sarah Lisa Walker had always had low estimations of herself. Beyond her outer confident and bossy persona, she had always been a girl that felt like she didn't have much to offer. She would even go as far as to consider herself boring to be around, so for Chuck to now say the opposite, it had her a little unconvinced, to say the least... "You're just saying that to get into my pants."

Chuck narrowed his eyebrows. "That was forward," he stated.

Sarah laughed. "It's true though, right?" she asked as she continued to stare into his chocolate orbs.

He shook his head. "Actually, it's not true at all. Not even remotely," he declared.

Smirking at him, she said, "So you don't want to get into my pants?"

He shook his head as he began to laugh briefly. "Sarah, I would have to be _the_ dumbest guy on the planet if I didn't want that," he admitted as they continued to stare into each other's eyes.

She laughed as she began to nod. "See, I was right."

He shook his head in complete disagreement. "But Sarah, you were wrong, ok? You were totally wrong. Because we are talking about music, and we are talking about what kind of company you are to be around. We aren't talking about whether I find you appealing intimately or not, so you can't bring that into the discussion and use it to win an argument, because that's not fair. I didn't say what I said to get into your pants. I said it because, for me, it's the truth. I love being in your company, and it's not because I want to get into your pants, because _that,_ comes separate," he said with confidence.

Sarah suddenly gulped a nervous breath of air. She didn't have a response to give him back. She had quite clearly lost the argument. Luckily for Sarah, he didn't gloat about that. Instead, he changed his attention towards the jukebox once more.

"I know just the perfect song to get you into music, starting from tonight," he declared as he pressed a few buttons, and a record began to play inside the pub.

_Birds flying high you know how I feel _

_Sun in the sky you know how I feel _

_Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel _

Chuck turned his attention towards Sarah once more, and he gazed at her, and she smiled at him as they began to enjoy the record together.

_It's a new dawn _

_It's a new day _

_It's a new life _

_For me _

_It's a new dawn _

_It's a new day _

_It's a new life _

_For me _

_And I'm feeling good _

The jazz instruments began to play, and Chuck began to sway from side to side from where he stood while grinning at her, and she held her smile towards him as the teammates and friends continued to listen to the record.

_Fish in the sea you know how I feel _

_River running free you know how I feel _

_Blossom on the tree you know how I feel _

_It's a new dawn _

_It's a new day _

_It's a new life _

_For me_

_And I'm feeling good _

"And I'm _feeling_ good," Chuck declared as he held his grin towards her, and he took a sip from the beer that Sarah had handed him just earlier.

Sarah suppressed a laugh as she continued to gaze at him, and the teammates continued on with enjoying the record.

_Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know_

_Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean _

_Sleep in peace when day is done_

_That's what I mean _

_And this old world is a new world _

_And a bold world_

_For me _

Sarah began to sway along with Chuck as they held their warm gaze on toward each other. She was really enjoying this particular song, and it was clear that even if she didn't have much of a feel for music, then Chuck certainly did.

_Stars when you shine you know how I feel _

_Scent of the pine you know how I feel _

_Oh freedom is mine _

_And I know how I feel _

_It's a new dawn _

_It's a new day _

_It's a new life _

_For me _

_And I'm feeling good _

The record finished playing, and Sarah began to digest what she had just heard. There was certainly a lot of soul attached to that song. And, somewhat surprisingly to her, she actually really enjoyed the record that Chuck had just played for her.

"So, how was it then?" he asked, grinning at her as he moved to take another sip of his beer.

"I liked it," she admitted, returning his warm gaze.

"I knew you would. I'll soon get you into music. If any of the team had overheard you saying you weren't really into music, you would be lynched. Everybody loves music," he stated, holding his grin.

She smiled at him as she suppressed a laugh.

"If I have to, Sarah, then I'll bring you to concerts and music festivals until you have repented for your sins, and you have embraced the gift that is music," he teased.

"I'm not sure about that," she said, holding her affectionate smile.

"I won't take no for an answer!" he shot back, holding his warm grin.

"Ok," she laughed.

Chuck and Sarah then began to walk back over towards the bar, and they moved to take a seat next to each other on the bar stools.

"Do you fancy something stronger than that?" Sarah asked with a wicked smile, glancing at his pint of beer.

He nodded. "If you're buying, yeah."

Her wicked smile developed into a full, loving smile instead. "What's wrong with you buying for once?" she teased.

Grinning, he said, "I'll buy the next one," as he winked at her.

Sarah giggled sweetly before she proceeded to order something somewhat stronger for both herself, and for Chuck.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck and Sarah were still seated at the bar together, and they were turned on their barstools to face each other. There was a temporary break in their conversation with each other when Chuck began to notice out of the corner of his eye as a short Indian guy, and a Sam Kinison lookalike entered through the main entrance of the pub. Chuck adjusted his glance slightly so that he could better observe as the two men began to glance around the pub before the short Indian guy met Chuck's gaze briefly, but he quickly broke his gaze away from Chuck and seemed to turn nervous. The two men then began to stroll towards the bar, but the short one was now looking at anywhere but Chuck. They quickly moved out of Chuck's line of sight, because the two men had moved to stand behind him at the bar.

Chuck returned his gaze onto Sarah, who also broke from looking at the two men standing behind Chuck, and they began to make eye contact with each other again.

"Same again?" Chuck asked as he shifted his glance to the right of them, and he nodded at their consumed shorts.

Sarah nodded, and she sported him an affectionate smile, which he returned. They then adjusted themselves to face the front of the bar once more, and Chuck called out to Jim, "Same again, please, mate, when you're ready."

Jim nodded before he disappeared out from sight for the next minute until he returned, and he came to a stop just in front of Chuck and Sarah behind the bar.

"Two of the same coming right up for the happy couple," Jim stated with a smirk.

Chuck and Sarah began to shake their heads once more.

"Don't start that again, Jim! We're just trying to enjoy ourselves and have a good time after a long day, and we don't need people killing our feel-good mood!" Sarah protested.

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, you're becoming as bad as the team, mate. We'll take our custom elsewhere if you don't pack it in," Chuck threatened.

Jim chuckled. "I'm sorry. Your friends are a bad influence on my teasing side," he stated as he began to prepare Chuck and Sarah's drinks.

Chuck and Sarah were then joined where they were seated at the bar by Big Dan, John and Chris, who all came to stand behind their two teammates.

"Did he just call us a bad influence?" Big Dan asked, and Chuck and Sarah arched themselves to look behind themselves to glance at their teammates.

"Yeah, he did," Chuck said.

"I thought he did. The cheeky bastard," Big Dan said, glancing at Jim, who began to chuckle.

"Well, it's true. You are bad influences," Sarah declared as Chuck began to nod in agreement.

Big Dan, John Murray and Chris all began to wince.

"That's not very nice," John Murray said.

"Well you'll find that I'm not a very nice person to people I don't like," Sarah said, glancing at Big Dan.

Big Dan, Jamie, Chris and Chuck all began to laugh at her remarks.

Jim then returned with Chuck and Sarah's drinks, and Chuck handed him the money, and Jim departed out from sight to attend to something else.

"None for us?" Chris asked.

Chuck shifted his glance to look behind himself once more. "When you stop busting our balls, then maybe we'll be generous enough to get you something on the sly outside of our rounds," he said.

Sarah nodded in complete agreement.

"I mean, it's tempting," Big Dan said, but he paused to glance at John Murray. "What do you reckon, mate?"

John Murray raised his hand up to his chin, before he said, "Tempting, sure, but no deal."

Chris, John and Dan all broke into laughter before they proceeded to start the kissing noises once more, which caused Chuck and Sarah to begin to shake their heads. With the amount of head-shaking the pair had had to do today, it was a surprise that their necks hadn't already snapped.

Chris, John and Dan then departed away from Chuck and Sarah, and the two teammates turned to face each other once more.

"I give up," Sarah declared as she gazed at Chuck with a loving smile.

"Our teammates are sadists," Chuck said.

Sarah strongly began to nod her head, and she held her smile. "Agreed," she said, as the pair moved to pick up their drinks and they both took a large gulp from their glass to drown their sorrows together.

The pair then paused in silence, as they continued to share a warm gaze with each other, and Jim soon returned to the front of the bar.

"Can I get you two anything?" Jim asked, glancing at the two men that had entered the pub several minutes ago, and Chuck and Sarah began to glance at Jim.

"Excuse me?" one of the men replied.

Chuck then shifted himself so that he could glance at the two men behind him once more, while Sarah already had them in her sight.

Jim shook his head in frustration. "It's a pub, fellas. You've been standing at the bar for a short while, so would you like to order anything?"

The Sam Kinison lookalike began to shake a thermos flask in his hand, and he grinned at Jim.

Chuck and Sarah then watched on as Jim shook his head in frustration once more. "I'm sorry, only items purchased on the premises may be consumed here, so can I take your order?"

Chuck and Sarah continued to watch on as the short Indian guy turned to the Sam Kinison lookalike and he said, "Actually, Jeffrey, I am feeling a bit parched!"

The short Indian guy then turned to look at Jim once more, and he said, "I'll take a lemonade!"

"Can I have some pork scratchings?" the Sam Kinison lookalike asked.

Jim nodded, and he moved to collect a glass before he promptly returned to the machine housing the lemonade in the bar, and he was about to pour it, but he stopped short because the short Indian guy began to speak once more. "Actually, I'm feeling… adventurous! I'll have a Shirley Temple!" he declared as he began to laugh, and Jim shook his head once more, and he puffed out a long sigh before he began to prepare the newly requested order.

"This is a nice place, Jeffrey! Well, that is if you're a time traveller from the Middle Ages, and all you're used to is a tavern full of serfs! All they need is some straw on the floor, and a pig in the corner and the travellers will feel right at home!" the short Indian guy joked, and he began to laugh hysterically at his own joke.

Chuck and Sarah watched on as Jim overheard the joke, and the friendly barman's growing frustration continued to build.

The teammates then began to glance at each other, and with wry smiles stemmed from the exchanges between the Jim and the two idiots, they shook their heads at each other.

Jim then returned to the front of the bar with the prepared Shirley Temple, and he was about to speak, but he stopped when the short Indian guy began speaking once more, "Actually, homie, it's a Thursday! I'll go out in a blaze of glory, and I'll have a Dirty Shirley!" he said excitedly, as he began to laugh once more.

"Are you taking the piss, mate?" Jim said in frustration as he continued to shake his head at the two men.

Chuck now had to fight hard to hold in his laughter, and he turned to glance at Sarah once more.

"Shall we go back to the table?" she suggested as she began to smirk at him.

Chuck nodded, and the two teammates moved to stand. They then turned themselves to glance at Jim a final time, who still appeared to be in a pissed off state of mind.

Smirking, Chuck said, "Good luck with that, mate," as he nodded over at the two men at the bar.

Jim nodded, and Chuck and Sarah departed away from the bar, and they walked over to the large table that had been allocated to Red Team.

On arrival at the table, they climbed themselves in, and they took a seat next to each other on the large seating booth. Chuck began to outstretch his arm, and he rested it idly on the frame of the enclosure behind Sarah's back.

"That's actually one of the first times I've heard Jim swear in my three years of coming here since I've been with the Regiment," Chuck declared as he broke his gaze from looking over at the bar, and he began to gaze at Sarah who was seated just a few inches away from him.

Sarah broke her glance from the bar, and she arched herself to look at her teammate to the left of her, and she smiled at him. "I'm not surprised. He looked really pissed off," she said.

Grinning, he said, "It serves him right for getting in on the team's joke!"

Sarah developed a radiant smile as she held her gaze from where she was positioned in close proximity to her teammate. "I'll drink to that," she said as they collected their drinks, and they moved to touch their glasses together, and they took a hit from their shorts, as they held their purposeful gaze towards each other.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

**A short while later**

Chuck and Sarah were still at the table assigned to Red Team, and they were still seated next to each other, only the rest of the team had now reunited together, and the entire team of eight were sat around the table.

"What is it with those weirdos?" Big Dan asked as Red Team glanced over towards the short Indian guy and the Sam Kinison lookalike.

"I'm not sure," Cole Barker said, and Red Team observed as the taller one began to glance all around the pub before he took a sneak gulp from his thermos flask on obviously feeling confident that nobody was watching him.

Red Team began to shake their heads, and they continued to observe for several minutes as the two suspicious men began attempting to talk to women at the bar. The tall one had a bag of pork scratchings in his hand, and Red Team watched on as he extended the open bag in his hand out, and he brought it towards one of the women's faces in an attempt at offering her some of the product. He did, however, not appear to get the reaction that he was hoping for, as the woman shot him a look of disgust, and Red Team watched on as the woman proceeded to slap away the bag of pork scratchings, and it fell out of his hand, and it landed on the floor of the pub.

The lively pub suddenly exploded with laughter, as all of Red Team in addition to numerous other tables inside the pub quickly filled with laughter as they observed as the Sam Kinison lookalike sunk to his knees and he began crawling around on the floor to pick up the dropped pork scratchings.

"What a total freak he is!" Bryce said, glancing at the guy on the floor that was rushing to pick up his pork scratchings.

"Mate, the other one is no better!" Jamie Hughes said.

Red Team sharply voiced their agreement with their comrade.

"From which lunatic asylum did those two originate from?" Chris asked.

"The most secure one in the country, mate!" Big Dan said, which earnt him some laughter from some of the tables in the immediate proximity of Red Team's table, and Red Team quickly joined in on the laughter once more.

The team then began to consume their latest round of drinks while they continued to observe the two strange men present inside of the pub.

A few minutes passed without incident until Red Team began to watch as the short guy handed the taller one his drink, and he confidently began to stroll over to an attractive, young adult female inside of the pub. What then followed, nobody inside the pub could have predicted, as the short guy and the female engaged in a brief conversation, before the young woman appeared to take offence to something that the guy had said to her. She then proceeded to line up a slap onto the face of the guy, and the slap connected with enough ferocity that it caused the short guy to fall backwards onto the floor of the pub.

The busy pub once more exploded with laughter, only this sudden outburst of laughter was substantially louder than the earlier outbreak, as every customer inside of the pub all began to laugh at the misfortunes of the short Indian guy that was now laid out on the floor of the pub. They then observed as he glanced all around the pub, before he unconvincingly shouted, "I'm ok!"

It took quite some time for the laughter inside of the pub to subside, and Red Team could only shake their heads in disbelief at each other over what they had witnessed since they had arrived back at their table together.

"That was a brutal knockdown! My missus would have been proud of that one!" Big Dan joked.

Laughter once more quickly erupted between Red Team, and also from the immediate tables around Red Team's table that had overheard Big Dan's joke.

"Yeah, that had to hurt," John Murray declared.

"Mate, why didn't any of us record that?" Jamie Hughes asked, with his mouth held agape in excitement from what he had just seen.

Red Team immediately began to groan at the missed opportunity, before they took ahold of their alcoholic beverages, and they took another drink from them.

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"Are you ok, Lester?" Jeff asked, glancing at his friend who had now picked himself up off the floor.

"I'm fine, Jeffrey!" Lester said while he was holding his face with his hand from where he had just been slapped by the angry but attractive female that he had made an advancement toward. "I think she likes me!"

Jeff nodded, and he handed Lester back his Dirty Shirley, and Lester took the drink from his best friend. He then raised it up to his mouth to take a sip of it, while being careful to only drink from the right side of his mouth, because the left side was already beginning to swell from the ferocious slap that he had just taken from the angry female.

Jeff and Lester then returned to sit at the bar to continue to blend in so that they could observe Blondie and the overseer of the alien race that they had encountered while they were in Birmingham several days ago.

Jeff then began to consume his salvaged pork scratchings for several minutes. While Lester occasionally took sips of his Dirty Shirley from the right side of his mouth until he was alerted to the pub owner departing from behind the bar, and he was holding onto a microphone stand as he walked with purpose out into the main area of the open-plan pub. On arrival at his destination, he began to set up the karaoke for a few minutes.

Lester suddenly became very excited at the prospect of showcasing to the pub the talent of Jeffster, and he moved to elbow Jeff who was sat next to him to get him to pay attention.

Jeff shifted himself to glance at the contact from Lester.

"Jeffrey, he's setting up karaoke!" Lester exclaimed in excitement.

Jeff began to nod his head up and down, and a smile pursed through his lips. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Lester?" he asked.

"You're damn right I am, Jeffrey!" Lester said in continued excitement.

The best friends waited for several minutes, and their excitement began to build each passing second until finally, the owner of the pub started to speak into the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention," the pub owner said, and he waited until the lively chatter in the pub quietened, and the customers began to pay attention to him. "It's Thursday night, and you all know what that means. It's karaoke night!"

Lester suddenly darted up from the stool of the bar, and he began to jump up and down with immense joy. "Yes!" he exclaimed as he raised his fists into the air.

"As usual, I will be taking requests for a few minutes, and then we'll get on with the night," the pub owner declared.

Lester quickly hurried over to where the karaoke was set up, but there were already two people waiting ahead of him, and he waited patiently until the pub owner turned his attention towards him.

The landlord shook his head, and with a sigh, he said, "What's your name, mate?"

"It's Jeff and Lester, and we'll be performing together as _Jeffster_!" Lester said with excitement.

The owner of the pub sighed once more. "What song?"

"Mr. Roboto, by Styx!" Lester said with continued excitement.

"Alright, leave it with me. You're on second," he said.

Lester then returned back to the company of Jeff.

"Are we on?" Jeff asked.

"You bet your life we are, Jeffrey! We're on second!" Lester said.

Jeff nodded as the two best friends then paused in the bar for several minutes as they awaited the karaoke night to begin.

The landlord then began to speak into the microphone once more. "Ok ladies and gentlemen, please show your applause for Emily, who will be singing Mr. Brightside by The Killers!" he said, and the pub suddenly got very loud as the customers began to applaud the female that started to take to the microphone.

Lester rolled his eyes as he gazed at the female now stood over the microphone. The faster she finished her performance, the quicker he would be able to show the pub what real music sounded like.

"Thank you," Emily said with a smile as she glanced around the pub at all of the people that had applauded her.

The speakers then began to play the introduction to the song, and Emily quickly began to sing.

_Coming out of my cage_

_And I've been doing just fine_

_Gotta gotta be down_

_Because I want it all _

"Rubbish," Lester murmured as he began to cringe, and he covered his face with his hand in embarrassment because he couldn't bear to watch the trainwreck performance unfold before his own eyes.

_It started out with a kiss_

_How did it end up like this?_

_It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss_

"Boo! Move on! Next in line!" Lester shouted.

_Now I'm falling asleep_

"So am I!" Lester shouted in contempt.

_And she's calling a cab_

_While he's having a smoke_

_And she's taking a drag_

_Now they're going to bed_

_And my stomach is sick_

_And it's all in my head_

_But she's touching his chest now_

_He takes off her dress now_

_Let me go_

"Tsk, tsk, Jeffrey, the modern generation has such poor taste in music! We'll soon change all that!" Lester said.

_And I just can't look, it's killing me_

_And taking control_

"The Killers is a fitting name because I will be lucky to escape this performance without it inflicting death upon my young self!" Lester complained as he began to shake his head.

_Jealousy, turning saints into the sea_

_Swimming through sick lullabies_

_Choking on your alibis_

"This performance is like a crossover between Dracula and Freddy versus Jason!" Lester complained as he began to laugh hysterically at his own joke.

_But it's just the price I pay_

_Destiny is calling me_

_Open up my eager eyes_

_'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside_

"She has such a lovely voice," Lester heard somebody say, which caused him to laugh hysterically once more.

"I think someone needs their ears cleaning!" he stated.

_I'm coming out of my cage_

_And I've been doing just fine_

_Gotta gotta be down_

_Because I want it all_

_It started out with a kiss_

_How did it end up like this?_

_(It was only a kiss), it was only a kiss_

"Jeffrey, go and fetch the keytar! We'll show these amateurs what real music is all about, my brother!"

Jeff nodded, and he quickly rushed off out of the pub to return to his van.

Emily continued on with her singing, while half of the pub began to join her in a singalong of the song that they all knew the words to as it was one of the most popular songs in the country.

_Now I'm falling asleep_

_And she's calling a cab_

_While he's having a smoke_

_And she's taking a drag_

_Now they're going to bed_

_And my stomach is sick_

_And it's all in my head_

_But she's touching his chest now_

_He takes off her dress now_

_Let me go_

"Hurry up! Real musicians are waiting to sing here!" Lester complained.

'Cause I just can't look, it's killing me

And taking control

Ninety-nine percent of the lively pub had now joined Emily in the song as they all began to belt out the lyrics in perfect sync with each other "Jealousy, turning saints into the sea! Swimming through sick lullabies! Choking on your alibi! But it's just the price I pay! Destiny is calling me! Open up my eager eyes! 'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside!"

Emily smiled as she glanced around the pub at the large and friendly gathering of pubgoers, and she continued on to finish the end of the song.

_I never_

_I never_

_I never_

_I never_

Lester began to sing, "I neverrrr want to hear this again!"

In Lester's opinion, the song had finally come to an end and not at a moment too soon.

But it appeared that the rest of the people present inside of the pub did not share his opinion, as the lively pub erupted with rapturous applause, and many approving whistles were promptly directed towards the talented singer.

Emily quickly broke out with a joyful smile as she took in the applause from the friendly crowd, while Lester began to sigh deeply with such overwhelming relief because he no longer had to listen to such codswallop.

"Thank god!" Lester said as he waited to be called up to the microphone so that he could begin his own performance with his best friend, who had now returned into the pub, and he was armed with his keytar.

The landlord then moved up to the microphone. "Thank you, Emily! She was brilliant, wasn't she?" he asked.

The pub suddenly filled with loud voices of agreement over his question, while Lester began to sharply shake his head in disagreement.

"Next up, we have, Jeffster! Everyone give it up for Jeffster!" the pub owner said.

Lester excitedly rushed towards the microphone, with Jeff following on behind, and the best friends were met with many moans of complaint. With some customers inside the pub even going as far as to exit out into the open air.

The introduction to Mr. Roboto then began to play on the speakers inside the pub.

"Prepare to be mind blown!" Lester shouted into the microphone, and he glanced over at his best friend, and he proceeded to nod at him. Jeff nodded in response, and the best friends prepared themselves for their performance.

"Get on with it!" a customer shouted in complaint at the best friends, and the pub quickly filled with voices of approval over that particular customer's comment.

Jeff then began to play his keytar, and he started to sing into the microphone,

_Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,_

_Mata ah-oo hima de_

_Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,_

_Himitsu wo shiri tai_

"You're rubbish, mate!" a customer suddenly shouted, which earnt him an outpouring of loud, approving laughter inside of the pub.

Lester then began his own first verse of the song.

_You're wondering who I am_

Followed by Jeff

_Secret, secret, I got a secret_

Lester took over the duet once more.

_Machine or mannequin_

Followed by Jeff

_Secret, secret, I got a secret_

Lester once more took the lead.

_With parts made in Japan_

Followed by Jeff

_Secret, secret, I got a secret._

Followed by Lester

_I am the modren man_

"You're fucking shit, mate, that's what you are!" someone tall from Blondie's table shouted at the two friends, which earnt further laughter inside of the lively pub.

Lester however, ignored the comments as he was too focused on blowing the pub away with their gifted music,

_I've got a secret, I've been hiding, under my skin_

"We already know your secret, mate! You're from the lunatic asylum!" another person from Blondie's table interrupted the two best friends as a large section of the pub burst into laughter for an extended period.

_My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain I.B.M._

_So if you see me acting strangely, don't be surprised_

"We're not surprised, mate!" a customer joked as the pub erupted with laughter once more.

_I'm just a man who needed someone, and somewhere to hide_

_To keep me alive-just keep me alive_

_Somewhere to hide to keep me alive_

"Bring back Emily! We want an encore!" a customer shouted, and he was quickly met with loud voices of approval over the suggestion as Jeff and Lester continued on with their song,

_I'm not a robot without emotions-I'm not what you see_

_I've come to help you with your problems, so we can be free_

_I'm not a hero, I'm not a saviour, forget what you know_

_I'm just a man whose circumstances went beyond his control_

_Beyond my control-we all need control_

_I need control-we all need control_

"Where's a power cut when you need one?!" a customer shouted as he began to shake his head, and the pub erupted with laughter once more as numerous other pubgoers began to flood out towards the exit, and Jeffster continued on with the rest of the song.

_I am the modren man_

_who hides behind a mask_

_So no one else can see_

_my true identity_

"Bloody hell! It's like Friday the 13th in here!" a customer complained and he promptly made for the exit as the pub filled with laughter over the customer's comment.

_Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,_

_domo... domo_

_Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,_

_domo... domo_

_Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,_

_domo... domo_

_Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto_

_For doing the jobs that nobody wants to_

_And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto_

_For helping me escape just when I needed to_

_Thank you-thank you, thank you_

_I want to thank you,_

_please, thank you_

"Jim, mate, why the fuck have you allowed these two jokers to ruin the night?!" someone from Blondie's table shouted, and he was met with strong expressions of agreement from every corner of the pub.

_The problem's plain to see_

_too much technology_

_Machines to save our lives_

_Machines dehumanize._

"I can't take much more of this before my head explodes!" an angry customer from a corner of the pub complained.

"Same here, mate! Jimbo, go and fetch the paracetamol! But be warned, you're gonna need boxes of the stuff, fella!" someone from Blondie's table shouted back, and the pub erupted with laughter once more.

_The time has come at last_

_Secret, secret, I got a secret_

_To throw away this mask_

_Secret, secret, I got a secret_

_So everyone can see_

_Secret, secret, I got a secret_

_My true identity..._

_I'm Kilroy!_

_Kilroy!_

_Kilroy!_

_Kilroy!_

The song came to an end, and Lester threw his arms outstretched into the air as he waited for the applause from the crowd for a long moment, but it never came...

"Thank god for that!" a customer shouted in a frustrated tone, which earnt a loud outpouring of laughter from the rest of the customers inside of the pub for an extended period.

The landlord then began to move towards the microphone, but Jeff and Lester refused to yield the position.

The pub owner then spoke into the microphone, "Thank you. Thank you. Jeffster everybody!"

No applause came, and the landlord moved to stand between Jeff and Lester, and he began to speak into the microphone once more, "Next up, we have Niall with..."

The friendly barman was sharply interrupted, as Lester moved to grab the microphone stand, and he took it away from the landlord to stop him from completing his sentence.

"Who's for an encore?!" Lester shouted into the microphone, as he began to wrestle and fight with the landlord who had also gripped hold of the microphone stand, and Lester and the landlord started a tug of war with each other over the microphone stand as they pulled each other backwards and forwards in an attempt to gain control of the stand.

"NO!" the entire large gathering of customers inside the pub shouted in unison in response to Lester's question, as Lester also began to hear many explicits that quickly followed on afterwards.

"You only get one song, Lester! You've had your turn now pack it in and give me back the microphone!" the landlord complained as he continued to wrestle with Lester for the microphone stand.

Lester was now about to lose the tug of war battle with the pub owner, so he quickly moved to detach the microphone from the stand, and he ran off with the mic over towards another area of the pub, and the landlord gave chase. Lester had now reached another part of the open-plan pub, but the landlord was hot on his tail. He quickly moved to climb onto a large table that numerous customers were all seated around. His actions caused an intense outpouring of groans of complaint from most of the people present inside of the entire pub, and the whole pub locked their gazes onto Lester, who was now stood on top of one of the large tables as the customers that were seated all around that particular table all began to look at him with intense disgust and contempt. While at the same time, the landlord was stood at the foot of the table and he was attempting to reach out to grab Lester to get him down from the table, but he was being blocked from doing so by Jeff, who was running interference and he was stopping the pub owner from getting to his best friend.

"GET HIM DOWN!" a customer began to shout in anger, as he began to point angrily at Lester who continued to stand on top of the large table.

"Get the fuck down from that table right now, you pillock, or I'll throw you off it!" someone from Blondie's table, two tables away shouted at Lester.

"If you don't get down right now, then you're barred for life!" the landlord shouted in anger as he continued to try and reach out to grab Lester, but Jeff was doing a great job in obstructing the pub owner from reaching his friend.

"I have stayed quiet for too long! There is something I need to declare!" Lester started as he shouted into the open microphone.

He took a brief moment to make sure that all eyes were on him, and they were. Even all of the numerous customers that had left the bar during Jeff and Lester's car-crash performance had all returned into the pub to query the loud commotion that was now occurring inside the pub.

"Those people, on that table!" Lester started, as he pointed over at the table that Blondie and the men in her company were around, "are aliens!"

The entire pub suddenly burst into roaring laughter, and at least a dozen people present inside of the pub began to bend over in stitches over Lester's declaration.

"Do you think this is funny? Do you know what I think? I believe that this… place... is very likely a gathering place for your species! Oh, we are on to your little… gathering... You want rid of us because you are trying to hide the evidence! Well, Jeffster will not be silenced! You don't fool Jeffster!" Lester shouted into the microphone, which only furthered the laughter of the large gathering of customers inside of the pub, as they had never witnessed anything so funny in their entire lives.

"You may laugh now, but I have proof!" Lester declared as he shot his glance onto a middle-aged black-haired female that was seated around the table that he was stood on, and she was gazing at him in disgust over his actions. "That hair that you're wearing, that's not real hair! I'm sure that all of your species don't have hair, and that you're all wearing wigs! Oh yes, I know your game! And it's time I proved it!"

Lester immediately bent down towards the middle-aged female. Because his right hand was occupied with holding the microphone, he outstretched his left hand towards the head of the female. He then grabbed hold of her hair, despite resistance from the woman, and he began to yank away at the woman's hair to remove the obvious wig that she was wearing.

This quickly led to a massive outpouring of discontent from everybody present inside of the pub, as most of the customers all rose to stand. Things quickly threatened to turn ugly as the significant portion of the pub that was on their feet all prepared to intervene to help out the middle-aged woman that was having her hair forcefully pulled on by Lester.

"RIGHT, THAT'S IT! YOU'RE BARRED!" the landlord screamed at Lester, as he made another attempt to reach him to pull him down, but Jeff was still interfering magnificently, and he was smirking at the pub owner as he blocked him from getting to his friend.

"Will someone, _please, _lash this Indian lesbian out of this fucking pub right now before I smack him?" someone at Blondie's table asked in a Mancunian accent.

"Yeah, and Sam Kinison along with him before I deck him as well!" the guy that Jeff and Lester had seen with Blondie for several days shouted in extreme frustration as Blondie's entire table all stood up. The group from that particular table then began to prepare themselves to intervene as Lester started to kick away at people around the table he was stood on, in addition towards people that had arrived to help that particular table at because they were attempting to grab hold of his legs to pull him down from the table before he caused people around him any harm.

Lester continued to kick away at people for a short moment until his attention fixed towards somebody from Blondie's table. He was built like a giant, and he was at least six foot five, and he was heading straight for him.

Meanwhile, Jeff quickly abandoned his interference, because two members from Blondie's table were heading straight for him, and he rushed to take hold of a small round table. He quickly raised it into the air so that he was holding onto the legs, while the actual table piece was facing towards the two men that were coming towards him, and he prepared to use it as a battering ram slash shield.

Lester suddenly paused from kicking away at the people that were around the table, and he focused all of his attention towards the giant of a man that was purposely heading straight for him. Lester attempted to stand his ground as he prepared a kick in the direction of the giant. However, he didn't even stand a chance, as the giant reached up at him in a lunge, and he scowled at him as he took hold of Lester. The giant then proceeded to raise Lester up at least eight feet into the air, and he began to carry Lester towards the exit as Lester could only look down at the giant of a man that he was being carried by. They quickly arrived at the doorway of the pub, and Lester clattered into the wall that was hanging above the entrance, which caused laughter inside the entire pub before the giant kicked open the door, and he lowered Lester until he was now about four feet into the air, and he proceeded to throw him out onto the pavement outside of the pub, and Lester landed forcefully onto the pavement a short distance away from the entrance.

Meanwhile, back inside the pub, Jeff was engaged in a skirmish of his own as he was attempting to ram the two men that had come at him from Blondie's table. They were playing a game of cat and mouse with each other, as Jeff would advance a little, and then he would back off. Jeff began to walk backwards away from the two men that were advancing towards him once more, and as he did do, he clattered into the back of something which caused him to lose his balance. Jeff quickly adjusted himself as he turned himself to query what he had just clattered into.

Now in Jeff's immediate proximity was the same giant of a man that had just thrown out his friend, and he was staring at him in a pissed off state of mind. Based on the physical definition of the giant, he wouldn't look too unfitting at a zoo that housed gorillas!

"You don't scare me, you great big ape!" Jeff declared as he attempted to adjust the table still in his hands to use it as a shield against the huge man that was now towering over him.

However, his attempts were unsuccessful, as the giant moved to yank the table out of Jeff's hands, and he threw it onto the floor. He then proceeded to grab hold of Jeff with one hand to hold him in place, and with his other hand, he prepared an almighty slap that sharply connected onto Jeff's left-sided cheek which impacted with such force, that it caused a loud thudding sound as the slap connected onto Jeff's cheek.

Everybody inside the pub instantly began to wince from the sound of the slap connecting onto Jeff, in addition to watching the slap in real-time with their own eyes. The giant then began to drag Jeff towards the exit of the pub, and he used Jeff's body to open the door in front of him. Once the door was opened, the giant then prepared a forceful push, and just like his best friend, Jeff forcefully landed on his back out on the hard pavement on the grounds outside of the pub.

"And that's only a small taste of what will happen to you both if you even think about coming back inside this pub, you fucking pillocks!" the giant shouted at the two friends that were now laid out in discomfort on the floor outside of the pub.

He then turned around to enter back inside the pub once more...

End of Chapter

I think we now know why Red Team calls him Big Dan! LMAO!

This isn't the last of Jeffster yet, by the way. There's still about another ten chapters of them yet!

Please review! This chapter is 12,000 words and I want to focus on preparing the next chapter, and I don't want to feel deflated to the point that I won't even feel like writing it if I receive a small number of reviews for a huge chapter that was filled with A LOT of free content.

The next chapter picks up immediately where this chapter finished, as Big Dan returns inside the pub, and the night reaches its conclusion. Events that will happen includes some Red Team scheming, more karaoke, even from a member of Red Team! (I wonder who it is!) The next chapter will be 99% Charah, and things are about to get VERY hot.


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